The Sayian Adventure
by Slives
Summary: A new fic from a first timer. Takes place about a year after the Cell games. Vegeta and Gohan head out on adventure in space to join a great tournament. Update 10-07-03 - Just a note but I am here.
1. Vegita Returns

A small group of people stood patiently next to the large landing pad. Most of them stood looking up into the sky. All except a little boy who was laughing in delight as his blue-haired mother played with him.   
"Your father will be home soon, Trunks. Aren't you going to be so happy to see him?" The little child giggled and then screeched in delight as Bulma lifted him over her head.  
"Really Bulma, Vegita has been away for almost 3 months. Trunks will be lucky to remember he has a father."  
"Hush, Dad! My Trunks is a smart boy, he will remember. Won't you my bright son?"  
Just then one of the techs standing there called out, "I see it!" Everybody looked in the direction he pointed as a silver dot grew in the sky. It quickly became a large sphere that settled to the ground with a loud roar.  
"Hmm, the ship is still in one piece this time." commented one of the other techs. "He must be mellowing out in his old age."   
"Quiet!" He was told. "If he hears you talking like that, he will show you how mellow he really is. You remember what happened to Iggy?"  
  
The group turned and watched fearfully as the door opened and Vegita walked down the ramp. Bulma ran up to the base of the ramp holding Trunks and wrapped one arm around him. Vegita stoically endured it for a minute before looking over at Dr Briefs. "I will need a new ship with some changes to it. I will tell you what I need after I get something to eat."  
Then he tried to pull away from Bulma only to find that Trunks had grabbed a handful of his black hair and was holding on tight. He glared at Bulma, "Get him off me before I do it my way."  
Bulma quickly pulled Trunks loose and replied, "At least you could notice how strong he is for his age."  
Vegita just pushed past her. "I'm hungry woman."  
"All right, all right. I'll get the food out. But first go take a shower. You need it!" And she followed Vegita into the house while the techs swarmed over the ship.  
  
  
As the Capsule Corp jet landed, the sounds of an argument could be heard.  
"I will not beg."  
"Asking for help is begging."  
"I don't need any help!"  
"You heard the rules Vegita, if you want to do this, you will need him."  
Vegita growled in response and jumped out of the jet. Then waited for Bulma to get out and walk over the house they landed next to.   
Bulma knocked on the door and looked down at the boy that opened it. "Hey kiddo! How are you?"  
"Hi Bulma!" Gohan replied. Then he turned his head back inside the house and called, "Mom! Bulma and Trunks are here."  
Then Gohan noticed the furious stare being directed at him. He looked down at the apron he was wearing. "Mom was resting, so I was helping her out a little."  
"Good for you, Gohan." Bulma said. "Now why don't you and Vegita go play while I visit with your mom. Besides I want to see your new brother."  
Vegita growled again and walked off. Gohan grinned up at Bulma, pulled off the apron and then jogged after Vegita.  
  
A little while later ChiChi and Bulma were sitting the kitchen talking when they heard some booming sounds coming from outside. "Is that thunder?" Bulma wondered.   
Just then there was a loud crash, everything the kitchen jumped and rattled, and through the window they saw a large tree fall over. They jumped up and ran outside to see what had happened. To their surprise they saw a Super Sayian Vegita lying at the base of the broken tree with the trunk on top of him. Hovering in the air not too far away was Gohan, powered up to Super Sayian 2 and glaring at Vegita through a black eye.   
A chuckle came from Vegita just then. "Good! The strength you used to beat Cell is not a one time fluke. Excellent." Vegita then pushed the tree off him, stood up and powered down. "That means I can gain that type of power as well." Then he turned and walked to the house with a slight limp.   
ChiChi looked up at Gohan and said, "Come on down son. Let's get you some ice for that eye."  
Gohan shook himself out of his stare at Vegita, powered down, and flew over to his mother. They all walked into the house and sat down around the kitchen table. ChiChi got out a couple bags of ice, gave one to Gohan, and tossed the other on the table next to Vegita. He ignored it for a minute, then grabbed it and put it on his knee. Meanwhile Bulma pulled something out of her bag, "This is something Vegita found on his last trip out to space." She set the strange disk on the table and then pressed a large button on the side of it. 


	2. Gohan is recruited

"This is something Vegita found on his last trip out to space." Bulma said as she set a strange looking disk on the table. She pressed a large button on the side of it and then sat back as an image of an old man wearing robes appeared in the air above the disk and began to speak.  
"Greetings warrior! I am Prime Minister Javar of Ceti Thersus. I am bringing you news of a challenge and opportunity that nobody will want to miss."  
The image changed to a still shot of a powerfully built but aged warrior. "Perhaps you have heard of Armon Ventard, the ruler and protector of our world for the past 1,000 years. He has faced many challenges in his time and always been victorious." The image flipped through several scenes of Armon in fights with opponents of all types. "But time itself is one challenge that could not be overcome, so Armon has decided to retire."  
The image of the speaker reappeared in the air. "This is where you come in, warrior. Lord Ventard has decided to share the secrets of his great powers before he leaves us forever. But, he will only share these with the greatest of warriors."  
"To find these greatest warriors, Lord Ventard has decided to hold a tournament. One of the greatest and most important tournaments in the galaxy! He invites all warriors to come join in this grand event."  
"There are 3 rules to this tournament you must know first."  
"Rule number one: This tournament is to find the best and noblest of warriors. Every body must have a fair chance to prove their worth. So there will be no killing. If you cause the death of one of your opponents, you will be banned from the tournament."  
"Rule number 2: You must have a team. No single warriors allowed. Teams must be between 2 and 6 members in size. Also, all team members must be of the same race. However, half-breeds will be allowed, but only if all members share one race in common."  
"Rule number 3: To be allowed to compete in the tournament, your team must pass 3 trials. The Trial of Strength, The Trial of Skill, and the Trial of Power. If you cannot pass the trials, you will not be able to fight in the tournament."  
"If you wish to compete in this grand tournament, bring this message disk to the planet…"   
The recording stopped as Bulma pushed the button again. "The rest of the message is about where to find the trials and the time table to do this in."   
  
ChiChi looked over at Bulma and asked, "What does this have to do with us?"  
"Nothing." Bulma admitted. "At least, nothing right now. But what happens if somebody like Freiza or Cell got this 'great power' and started trying to rule the galaxy? Should we just wait for evil to come find us and hurt the ones we love, or should we try a little harder and stop that evil before it becomes a danger?"  
ChiChi closed her eyes and bowed her head for a minute. "I hate this. I just want my sons to grow up in peace, get a good education and marry a nice girl." She looks up at Gohan with tears in her eyes. "I just want to do what's best for you and Goten."  
Vegita stirred and opened his mouth to say something but Bulma put her hand on his shoulder and quickly shook her head to keep Vegita quiet.  
Gohan pulled the bag of ice down from his eye and met his mother's gaze. "You have always said we should help the people that we can. This is a chance for me to help many people in a way that very few ever can. Let me do this for all the people on all the worlds out there."  
ChiChi smiled sadly and looked over at Vegita. "When do you have to leave?"  
"Bulma's father is building me a new ship for the journey. But there is a time limit. Unless we have started on the trials within 6 months, we will not be able to compete."  
"Dad thinks it should take him about 4 months to finish the ship, so you have a little time still." Bulma put in. "And you heard the rules, no killing allowed. So, Gohan will not be in any great danger."  
"I will make you proud of me, Mom."  
"You already do, Gohan." Was the reply. 


	3. The journey begins

*** 4 months later ***  
"Mom! I'm home!"  
"Good, dinner is almost ready. How did the training go?"  
"Fine. Vegeta is still annoyed you are only letting me train 2 days a week, but I am getting better all the time. By the way, Bulma says her dad almost has the new ship finished. They will be testing it next week."  
Chi-Chi looks at Gohan as she set a large bowl of food on the table. "So, it is almost time."  
"Yup."  
"I had hoped they would not get the ship finished in time. Oh well, eat up. You still have studies to do tonight."  
"Yes, mom."  
" Oh, and tell Bulma I have decided to take her up on her offer to stay with them while you are away."  
"Great! Trunks will be happy to see Goten again I am sure." Then Gohan dug into dinner and ate like only a Sayian can do.  
  
  
*** 2 more weeks have passed ***  
Another small crowd stands near the landing pad, but this time looking at the ship already sitting there. It was not your usual bubble shape, but looked more like a giant egg sitting on its end with 4 large rockets attached to it.  
"This ship is almost 50% wider and just a bit more than twice as tall. This was for a couple reasons. It has a new engine design that makes it faster and will give it almost twice the range of our other ships. The second reason was to make room for the larger Gravity Room Vegeta wanted put in."  
Dr Briefs when on to explain more about the workings of the new ship. "The very top deck is the control area. All the main seating for takeoff and landings is up there too. The next three decks are living space, storage, medical bay and all that good stuff. We have also fitted the medical bay with one of those rejuvenation tanks that Vegeta has brought back. Then we have the Gravity Room, it's been reinforced so it should take the strain of a couple training Sayians better. Below that is more of the engine and other equipment you need for a ship."  
"I don't like the name." Several heads turned towards Chi-Chi as she pointed to the large letters on the side of ship spelling out 'Capsule 13'. "It's bad luck."  
Vegeta snorted in amusement. "Bad luck only for those standing against a Sayian warrior."  
Bulma asked, "Why is that?"  
Vegeta grinned wickedly. "The 13th, on planet Vegeta, was always the night of the full moon."  
There was a moment of silence from the others while Chi-Chi glared at the back of Vegeta's head.   
"Well, enough talk." Vegeta started up the ramp into the ship. "Come on Gohan, let's get going."  
Gohan turned to his mom and gave her a hug. "I'll be careful." And before she could say anything, he let go and jogged up the ramp past Vegeta and into the ship. At the top of the ramp Vegeta paused a second and turned his head to lock eyes with Bulma. "I'll be back." Bulma raised her arm in a wave but Vegeta was already inside and closing the door. A few minutes later the ship lifted off and was on its way.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Once the ship was in space, Vegeta spent a couple minutes pushing buttons setting up the course for the ship to follow. Then he turned and looked at Gohan. "It's 6 days to our first stop, so we might as well get training. But first I need to lay out a couple of rules."  
Gohan got out of his seat and started to stretch a little warming up. "Go ahead."  
Vegeta led the way down to the Gravity Room while talking. "For this tournament, we are Sayians. We will wear Sayian uniforms and use Sayian gear. That also means I am in charge. You will follow my orders at all times." Vegeta glared at Gohan for a moment. "Understand?"  
Gohan nodded.  
"Good. At least we have a few days to practice, so we should be able to pass you off as a full Sayian easily enough." Vegeta walked to the GR controls and turned the gravity up to 150 times normal. "One more thing, unless we cannot help it, do not transform into a Super Sayian."  
"Why is that?"  
Vegeta moved to the center of the room and got into a fighting position. "I want to keep that in reserve. By now, some people know that Kakarott has become a Super Sayian. But they won't know we can do it too. So it will be a surprise for when we do have to use it."  
"Now! Defend yourself!" And Vegeta leapt to the attack.  
  
  
Gohan and Vegeta walked down the hall pushing past the crowds of people. Most of them ignored the pair as they passed, but a few watched carefully like they were trying to judge the competition and see how tough they were. Vegeta stopped in front of an archway that had a large banner hanging over it. The banner was a flashing neon green and yellow monstrosity that was painful to even look at. "The Great Ceti Thersus Tournament Begins Here!"   
Vegeta growled, "I should blast somebody for even making that ugly thing."  
Gohan just walked past him and into the room to get away from the flashing colors. "Maybe that will get to be the great prize. The winner can blow up that sign."  
They walked over to the front desk. "We are here for the tournament."   
The oversized orange blob behind the desk didn't even look up. "Fine. Names?"  
"I am Prince Vegeta, this is Gohan."  
"Race?"  
"Sayian!"  
The creature behind the desk looked up in surprise. "I didn't think there were any Sayians left. Freiza killed them all."  
Vegeta glared at it. "Not all of them, and Freiza has paid the price for that act of treachery."  
The blob shrugged. "Whatever. Just the two of you competing?"  
Vegeta nodded.  
"Okay. Report to the next room for a blood test and power scan."  
Gohan was surprised. "Blood test? What for?"  
"Well, we need to make sure you are of the same race don't we? Or did you expect us to just take your word for it?"  
"Are you saying our word is not good enough?" Vegeta growled.  
The blob just sighed at the challenge from Vegeta. "Everybody has to take the same tests. If you do not want to follow the rules, you can just not fight in the tournament."  
While Vegeta stood there for a moment trying to coming up with a good retort, Gohan just shrugged and walked away to the next room. After another glare from Vegeta at the blob, he followed Gohan.  
They had some blood taken and were told to wait while the tests were done. They sat down on the floor facing each other and started a telepathic sparing session. While they were sparring, they also covered a few things.  
"If they are doing a power scan, they are probably trying to judge the strength of all the warriors. So keep your power level down. Don't go any higher than what I do."  
"Sure Vegeta. I wonder if they will tell us how we rate against the other fighters."  
Just then they were called back. "Okay, you two are of the same race. And we have confirmed your Sayian heritage. Now, we will need each of you to stand under the scanner and power up. One at a time, and please, don't hold back."   
Vegeta walked over to a metal frame holding a large crystal disk. He stood under the disk and closed his eyes for a moment and started to power up some. Gohan stood next to control panel watching the power level climb. Vegeta leveled out at about 10 million. The operator seemed a little surprised. "Ten million is incredible for a Sayian. But you are still only ranked number 23 out of nearly 200 warriors that have come through here. I hope the little one here is a real powerhouse, or you are not going to be able to keep up for very long."  
Vegeta just powered back down and said, "We will surprise you at how well we can do." And stepped out of the scanner and nodded for Gohan to do in.  
Gohan stepped up and grinned at Vegeta as started to power up. "I have been training hard so I bet I have more power than you now." The number climbed quickly but not for long. Gohan leveled out at about 9.8 million.   
Vegeta laughed. "That's why I am the prince and you are only a baka warrior. You will never outdo me, little one."  
Gohan powered down with a frustrated sounding sigh. "One of these days, oh mighty prince, one of these days."  
The scanner operator punched a couple more buttons. "Okay, your team power is 19.8 million. We have had a couple teams come through with combined powers of almost 50 million, so good luck. You are going to need it."   
Before Vegeta could answer the operator tossed a disk to Vegeta, "Go to this location for the first test." And he turned away.   
Vegeta and Gohan walked out and headed back for their ship. 


	4. Gohan Stop Playing Games

When Vegeta and Gohan arrived at the location for the first test, they found themselves at a large planet with lots of other ships orbiting it. After a few minutes they received a communication that told them there was a line of groups waiting to get into the test area and it would be almost 2 days before they would get their chance. However, there was a large space station that they could board if they wished while they were waiting, so Vegeta decided to check out the competition.   
Gohan and Vegeta wandered away from each other after a word of advice from Vegeta, "Stay out of trouble, brat." Gohan wandered down the halls just looking at the different races that were there. He enjoyed seeing all the strange people and listening to them talk in their own languages. "Maybe I need to get Vegeta to teach me some of these other languages." Gohan thought, "It might come in handy at some point."   
Just then Gohan walked around a corner and bumped into someone standing there. The alien looked down at him and growled "Watch where you are going, runt." He started to say "Sorry" when he glanced up and saw who he bumped into.   
With a look of surprise he stumbled back a couple and started to raise his arms to a defensive position when his brain caught up with him again. "You look like Freiza!" In fact the monster looked like Frieza in his second transformation.   
Then another alien that looked the same jumped out of a nearby doorway and asked, "How do you know Lord Freiza?"  
Gohan stood there with his mouth hanging open as 2 more of them also walked up. Suddenly he was facing 4 copies of Freiza that all had their attention focused on him.  
The first one spoke again. "Have you met Lord Freiza?"  
Gohan managed to shut his mouth and turned it into a grin. "I guess you could say that. I traded a few punches with him."  
The other 4 looked shocked. "You fought Freiza? And you are still alive to talk about it?"  
Gohan's grin got a little bigger. "Sure. Freiza was surprised at how much of a punch I had." Then his grin faded a little. "Even so, I was only able to just hang on until my dad got there. Then he beat Freiza!"  
One of the others stepped forward and pointed at Gohan. "No way! There is no way that Frieza could ever loose to a monkey like you. And I will prove it!" And he started to drop into a fighting stance when he was stopped.   
"Hey, we are not allowed to fight here. Not if we want to fight in the tournament."  
"Grrr. And I wanted a little exercise."  
"How about the sparring chamber?"  
"Hey, that's a good idea. Is it available?"  
"Yea, I think so!"  
Meanwhile, Gohan was standing there trying to follow as all 4 of them started talking at once. "What sparring chamber?" he asked.  
The first one turned back and said, "They setup several rooms where we can fight tournament style matches while we wait for our turn at the trials. There is one open near here. You up for a little match?"  
Gohan nodded.  
"Okay then. Go get your teammates and meet us in 10 minutes. We will see what you can do."  
Gohan stopped. "Um. I am not sure where my team mate is. It might take me a while to find him."  
The 4 figures smiled at each other. "Aw, the poor little monkey is scared to fight. Are you going to run away?"  
Gohan's Sayian nature got the better of him then. "Fine. I will fight you myself."  
"Just you, against all 4 of us? Are you crazy?"  
This time Gohan smiled. "Aw, you are not afraid of this little monkey are you?"  
"Fine! You're on. Let's go." And they led the way down the hall.  
  
Meanwhile Vegeta was being more focused on his search. He was trying to get a sense of the power levels of all the creatures there to figure out who might cause them some trouble. He did make one stop, one of the vendors there was selling a drink that he had liked as a kid and had not been allowed to have any since Frieza took him away from him home planet. After wandering a little bit, he saw a crowd gathered around a display screen and over heard a couple comments about "That little monkey against the 4 of them?" "He's going to get his butt creamed." "This fight will be a joke. He is only half their size."   
Curiosity got the better of him and he pushed his way in to see what was going on. On the monitor was a camera showing the room Gohan was about to fight in. And then he saw what Gohan was facing. "Damn that kid! What is he doing?"  
One of the others standing there answered, "They are sparring. They have to follow tournament rules, so they are not going to get too beat up."  
Vegeta growled. "He is going to get us kicked out of the tournament. Where are they at? I have to stop this."  
"It's too late to stop it. And this is legal. These rooms where setup for this reason. To give the fighters a chance to train a little more. So just sit back and watch the show."  
Just then the fighters started to power up, with Gohan letting them take the lead. Vegeta was able to sense their power levels now across the station. It seemed the 4 Frieza-like guys topped out between 1.2 and 1.5 million each. "They are not that strong." Vegeta thought. "This should be interesting to see how the kid handles this." Vegeta then crossed his arms and stood there watching as Gohan took his power up about 7 million and then smiled at his opponents and motioned for them to start the fight.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Gohan stood there and smiled. "You can begin whenever you are ready."  
#1 charged at Gohan with his fist cocked and ready to go expecting to make short work of this fight. But instead of ducking or blocking the blow, Gohan jumped forward himself catching them all off guard. Gohan ducked around the side of #1 and landed next to #3. A quick round kick later sent #3 to meet to wall with a thud. And he slumped there for a minute, stunned by the impact. #2 and #4 both came at Gohan punches and kicks flying but Gohan just started blocking and dodging them. #1 looked over at #3 for a second against the wall, charged a Ki attack and flung it at Gohan. Without even breaking his rhythm, Gohan swatted the energy ball away, right at #3. All number #3 had time to do was look up and suck his breath to scream before the ball hit him. A small explosion later, #3 was out like a light and #1 was screaming mad that Gohan managed to take one of them out. #1 charged into the melee and added his attacks to the other two's, but they still didn't seem to be able to lay a hand on Gohan.  
Meanwhile the crowd around Vegeta started to babble about how good this kid was and watch in awe as Gohan threw 3 quick punches and knocked the other attackers around the room. One of them spectators that just got there asked. "What race is that fighter? He is awesome."  
Vegeta answered. "Sayian."  
"And he is your team mate?" Vegeta nodded.  
"Wow! Are you as good as he is?"  
Vegeta smirked. "I am better than he is. And notice, he is not even trying and still those guys can't even touch him."  
Meanwhile Gohan had taken to abusing them a little bit. Using his super speed was bouncing from one to the other and playing with him like toys. A quick move and he slapped one in the back of the head before they even knew where he was. Another jump and grabbed on by the arm and tossed him at the one he just slapped. They went down in a tangle of limbs. Then suddenly Gohan was standing by the side of the other one and kicked his legs out from under him. And kept that type of thing up for a few more minutes before coming to rest in the center of the room. Gohan then folded his arms and closed his eyes waiting for the next move.   
The 3 remaining got to their feet and quickly spread out. After a quick look at each other they all charged up a Ki attack and with a scream threw them at Gohan all at the same time. All 3 attacks hit in the center of the room and the explosion blinded everybody for minute. When the smoke cleared, Gohan was still standing there looking like he was half asleep. Then Gohan popped over to in front of #1 who was standing there with his mouth open. "Is that all you have got?"  
#1 pulled his gaze down to Gohan standing in front of him and then threw a punch. Gohan didn't even blink but #1 ended up clutching his fist with his other hand. His expression of pain was matched by the shock on the faces of the other 2.  
"Well, I guess that really is it." Gohan sent a quick right hook into the jaw of #1 knocking him out cold. Then he turned and walked in the direction of the last 2. They looked at each and both dropped to their knees. "We give up. You win."  
Gohan walked to the door and opened it. He was greeted by cheers from the other fighters that stood outside the sparring chamber. After making his way through the cheering crowd, he found himself face to face with Vegeta. "Just what do you think you were doing in there runt?"  
"I was just having a little fun Vegeta. You need to lighten up some."  
"You left 2 conscious opponents behind you. Never walk away from a fight unless you know all your enemies are dead or completely out of it."  
Gohan just looked at Vegeta for a moment and scowled. Then he gave Vegeta a bow. "Yes, Prince Vegeta." And then walked away.  
Vegeta just sighed, "That kid is trying to give me gray hair." 


	5. The Trial of Strength

Vegeta and Gohan finally received word that it was their turn to take the first test, so they made their way to a hanger with a small shuttle in it. When they boarded the shuttle, they found 6 empty chairs sitting behind a very padded pilot's station. A voice came from the chair, "Please sit down and we will be off."  
As soon as they sat, they could feel the shuttle lift off and start moving towards the planet. After a few minutes the shuttle landed near one end of a large valley. "You will find your challenge in the valley ahead of us. When you are finished here come back to the shuttle here and I will return you to the station. Please stand by while I turn off the artificial gravity in here." A hum from the back of the shuttle faded and Gohan and Vegeta were pressed down into their seats by the weight of their bodies.   
Gohan and Vegeta stood up and grinned at each other. They moved to the shuttle door that had opened and jumped out. As soon as they were out the door closed and they heard the gravity generator in the shuttle start back up.   
Gohan did a few deep knee bends and then a couple summersaults to test out the gravity with. "What do you think Vegeta, maybe 25 times normal gravity?"  
"That seems about right, it should not pose a problem for us. But still be careful, one bad landing and you could break enough bones to make yourself useless in completing the trial."  
"Yes Vegeta." Gohan looked around, "I wonder what the trial will be. It has to be more than just walking around down here."  
Vegeta did not answer, but started walking down the valley while trying to keep an eye out for anything that might attack then. They had made it about halfway down the valley when they started to hear a rumbling from around them. They both leapt a short distance to put some space between them and dropped into fighting stances. They watched with surprise as 6 large boulders floated up into the air. The boulders were made of a 2 foot round sphere with numerous spikes coming out of the center. Each spike was almost 2 feet long and ended in a 6 inch ball, much like a club. As they watched the balls started spinning in mid-air, randomly changing directions and speed while they spun. After a moment, all six balls started to move in towards Gohan and Vegeta.   
Vegeta just scowled and charged a Ki attack in his left hand and threw a ball of energy at the nearest rock. The rock changed the direction and speed of its spin and knocked the ball of energy away harmlessly. Vegeta turned to face the rock and increased his power some more. Then he let loose with several dozen shots all aimed at the rock. The rock's spinning went into overdrive and managed to deflect every shot Vegeta threw at it.   
Just then Vegeta heard a yell from Gohan and turned his head to see what was going on. Gohan had leapt into the air and flew at one of the rocks near him, his fist cocked back ready to punch. The spin of the rock changed directions again at the last second and hit Gohan's arm as he threw his punch, Gohan gasped in pain at the force of the hit on his arm and hesitated. Then the rock bounced forward a bit and smashed Gohan in the chest, sending him flying. Gohan managed to recover before he hit the ground and caught himself in mid-air.   
Just then Vegeta had to jump into the air to avoid a couple of the rocks that were charging him and shot several more energy blasts behind him while he tried to think of something that would work against these things. He had a sudden idea and froze his flight while he charged another powerful blast. A second later another ball of energy was flying towards one of the rocks still near the ground by Gohan. At the last second, the attack changed direction and slammed into the ground right below the rock. An explosion shook the area as pieces of rock flew everywhere. When the dust cleared the floating rock was still there but had a couple of its spines knocked off. Vegeta screamed in victory for a moment and looked around for another one to attack, but then he realized the rest were still too far off the ground for them to be damaged the same way.  
Meanwhile Gohan had gotten an idea of his own and found the perfect tool to use, while still floating in the air he used his Ki to lift a large flat piece of rock into the air and sent it flying to smash into one of the rocks attacking them. With a crash that made Gohan and Vegeta wince the 2 rocks fell to the valley floor. After the dust cleared they could see the attacking rock was shattered with its core broken into several pieces, but clearly it was out of the fight.   
"Good work Gohan!"  
"Thanks Vegeta, but that is hard work in this gravity!" Gohan was still panting with the effort he had expended to lift and throw that rock. But he was still paying attention and dodged the next couple of attacks without much problem and got himself a little room to catch his breath. Vegeta, following Gohan's lead, found a smaller piece of rock that looked like an oversized baseball bat. He picked it up and with a yell charged at another one of the rocks that was coming at him. With a strong swing he hit the flying rock a solid blow and sent it flying into the side of valley where it was buried in a small landslide caused by its impact. But Vegeta had broken his bat with that hit and growled as he let the useless chuck of rock he now held fall to the ground.   
He heard a noise right behind him and turned just in time to see another rock almost on top of him. Without thinking Vegeta reach out and grabbed a couple of the spines and stopped the rock cold. It tried to spin and shake him off but Vegeta held on and managed to turn the spin against the rock and with another yell, sent the rock flying straight down to smash against the ground where it broke into a bunch of little pieces.   
Gohan, having caught his breath now, took off flying at a tremendous speed. He circled back and went pass one of the rocks moving at a blur. As he passed the rock he grabbed it and pulled it along with him. Gohan flew at the second to last rock and used the one he was pulling to smash them together. Pieces flew from the force of the impact both rocks were destroyed.  
Gohan and Vegeta landed near each other and smiled. "This wasn't so hard after all."  
"We still have one more to take care of Vegeta."  
"It is already damaged, there will be no problem with this one."  
Gohan nodded. "I'll lead off." He took off and flew towards the rock at high speed. After several passes around the rock suddenly Gohan stopped, planted his feet on the ground and grabbed the rock, halting it dead. "I can't hold it for long Vegeta."  
Vegeta smiled as he saw where Gohan had grabbed the rock. The broken spines were pointed outwards leaving Vegeta a perfect place to make his attack. Vegeta jumped forward and focused his energy into his fist and punched right into the heart of the rock. It exploded into fine dust leaving Vegeta and Gohan dirty but happy.  
A voice floated down the valley then. "Congratulations Warriors. You have passed the first test."  
Gohan and Vegeta flew back to where the shuttle was waiting and climbed in after the door was opened. They sat back down in their seats and sighed with relief when the artificial gravity was turned back on. After a short flight back up to the station the climbed out of the shuttle and were met by one of the officials of the tournament.   
"Well done. Just so you know, only half the teams that have tried, have passed this test so far. And you two have just scored the fastest time on this test." The official bowed to Gohan and Vegeta. "Do you need any healing?"  
Gohan looked over at Vegeta for a second before answering, "No, we are fine. But I am kind of hungry, could use something to eat."  
The official smiled. "Of course, please come this way. We will serve you all the food you want."  
Gohan and Vegeta just grinned at each other and followed the official out. "If they only knew what they were about to get themselves into." Vegeta thought.  
  
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Author's notes:   
Thanks for all the great reviews so far. So far I have been doing pretty well and managing chapter every couple of days. I hope to keep up that pace and should be able to keep in interesting for a while longer at least.  
Happy reading! 


	6. The Trial of Skill

Four days later Vegeta and Gohan pulled into orbit around another planet. They transmitted their ID to the station in orbit and were told there was currently a 12 hour wait for the next trial. So they ate, got some sleep, cleaned up and ate again. Then they docked their ship next to the station and wandered on board.  
There were not nearly as many people on this station as the last one. And most of them stayed in groups with their own kind. As they walked through the halls Gohan noticed most of the looks they were getting were less than friendly. "These people need to cheer up a little. We are not here to hurt them."  
Vegeta just shook his head, "These warriors have worked long and hard for the power and abilities they have. And they know anybody that is here could be just as strong as they are. So that doesn't encourage then to get friendly with others."  
"But, if you learn something about your opponent before the fight, you might know something that will help you overcome them during the fight. So it would be good to learn all that you can."  
Vegeta looked at Gohan in surprise. "You have been listening to me after all."  
"With my mom after me to learn everything I can? I can't help but listen and remember as much as possible."  
Just then they entered the hanger for the next test. An official turned to face them. "Ah, the Sayian team. Welcome. Please board the shuttle it will be lifting off in a minute.   
  
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The door of the shuttle opened and they found themselves looking down into a fairly dark cave. After a moment they started down and quickly found themselves in pitch blackness.   
"At least it is normal gravity this time."  
Vegeta did not respond but instead powered up a little and created an aura around himself that shed some light so they could at least see without walking into a wall. "Stay alert, this test is obviously meant for more than just our eyes."  
Gohan nodded and followed Vegeta deeper into the cave trying to see if he could feel any power levels around them. After a couple more minutes of walking they found themselves in a large cave. Vegeta raised his power level some to shed some more light as they looked around. There were a couple more tunnels heading out of the cave and they were trying to decide if they should split up when they started to hear a buzzing that seemed to echo through the entire cavern.  
They both dropped into a fighting stance as they suddenly heard something go whipping through the air right near them. Gohan powered up and added the light from his aura to see if the could spot anything. They could not see anything but they started hearing buzzing coming from several spots around them and they all seemed to be moving. Then Vegeta gasped as something hit him in the arm, not that hard, but enough to get his notice. Then there was another hit on the back of his head, a little harder and it was enough to move his balance off a little. Then another hit in the leg knocked him to the ground. Gohan started to turn and help Vegeta when he got hit several times knocking him to the ground as well. They both jumped back to their feet and Vegeta growled in frustration. "How can we fight what we can't see?"   
Gohan thought to himself. "There must be a way. Maybe if I try…" He powered up some more and formed his Ki into a shield around himself, then closed his eyes and tried to sense the Ki's of the attacking things. But no luck, he could feel them hitting against his shield but could not sense anything.  
Vegeta copied Gohan's shield and started to move towards the tunnel they come in, "Fall back, we need a moment to figure out what is going on here."  
Just then a ghostly voice floated through the cave. "If you leave this cave you will fail the Trial of Skill."  
Vegeta yelled in frustration and started throwing dozens of Ki blasts all over the place. Gohan had opened his eyes and starting watching Vegeta's attack so he could dodge any energy balls that came near him. Then Gohan saw one of the balls explode in mid-air. As he blinked away the flash of the blast he saw something that looked like a large insect drifting down from the spot of the blast. It looked like it had been stunned and as he watched it seemed to wake back up and start beating its wings again. The beating quickly became a buzzing like they heard all around them and then the creature vanished into thin air.   
"Vegeta! Stop for a minute!" Gohan flew towards the Sayian stood right behind him. "I think I know what we are fighting. They seem to be some type of insect about a foot long that can become invisible. I saw one get hit by a blast and get stunned for a moment. If we can hit another one maybe we can hit it again real quick and knock it out."  
Vegeta nodded and said "Keep your eyes open. I will keep my attack going, but I can't do it for much longer."  
Gohan charged his own blast and floated right above Vegeta and tried to watch as much space as he could. With a yell Gohan suddenly fired off his blast at another one that had been hit, but it woke up and dodged before it could be hit by Gohan.  
"Faster, Brat!"   
They tried a couple more times and finally Vegeta could not keep up his attack and dropped his arms panting with the exertion. Without thinking he also let his shield drop and was quickly hit by several punches. Before he could do anything Gohan dropped next to him and covered his shield over both of them.  
"I am not sure this is working. We need to figure something else out."  
"You are just too slow. If you could just throw your blasts faster we would be done with this by now. Even a third-class baka like you should be able to understand that."  
"Fine. If you are so sure you can do it, why don't you show me?" Gohan started to power up some more getting close to limit they put on themselves, not to go over what they showed the scanner back when they signed in. Vegeta raised his shield and flew up over Gohan and replied, "Whenever you are ready, boy."  
Gohan closed his eyes for a moment and then with a yell, let loose with dozens of blasts throwing them as fast as could. Vegeta was surprised for a moment at the number Gohan was throwing but he quickly charged shots in each hand stood ready. He soon saw a hit and quickly threw one of his shots at the spot but missed. He growled under his breath and started watching again.  
After Vegeta missed several times, Gohan finally stopped firing blasts himself and dropped to his knees trying to catch his breath. He did manage to keep his shield up but with several more hit on it suddenly he started to lean over to side about to fall over. Vegeta landed next to him and grabbed Gohan's hair to keep him from tipping over. "Got any more bright ideas down there?"  
Gohan took a moment to catch his breath. "Somehow we need to get closer when we hit them. They are too fast to fight at a distance."  
"And how do we do that, baka?" Vegeta scowled and then turned thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe if we could herd them into a corner." Vegeta started looking around for a good place to try and trap them in.  
But Gohan had not heard Vegeta's last comment. He has his eyes closed while trying to think for a moment. "They get close enough when they are hitting us. Too bad we can't stun them when they hit us."   
Suddenly, Vegeta get go of Gohan's hair and he dropped to hands and knees. With surprise he looked up at Vegeta only to see Vegeta looking at him with a wicked smile on his face. "I knew I brought you along for a good reason. Expand your shield to cover us both for a moment."  
Gohan jumped to his feet and did so. Vegeta dropped his shield, took a couple deep breaths and powered up a little more bringing up another aura around him, one that seemed to be crackling with energy. Vegeta gave Gohan another wicked grin and then jumped up into the air. Almost immediately Vegeta was hit and his Ki shield flared in response, throwing a blot of energy at the thing that had touched it. Gohan had the quickest glimpse of one of the bugs before Vegeta spun in place and landing a solid punch that slammed the bug into the far wall hard enough to leave a dent in the wall. The bug slid to the floor and lay there in a heap.   
Vegeta yelled out in victory and screamed, "Come get me you useless little pests!" When his shield flared again he struck out with his foot and connected again with another bug dropping to ground knocked cold.   
"Neat Vegeta! I didn't know you could do that with your Ki!"  
"Just a little trick I came up with when I was fighting for Freiza. I had a sparring trainer for a while that like to use lots of little punches to piss you off. I decided to even the score for once. I haven't needed to use it since then." Vegeta punched at another bug but missed him this time. "But this is still hard on your energy, so get your butt up here and help me."  
Gohan nodded, thought for a second about how to make his shield and with a yell built a wall of fire around himself. He was hit almost immediately and jumped forward a bit to hit the bug floating in front of him stunned. "Three down and bunch to go!" He was hit from behind and without thinking reached out and grabbed, catching a bug by the leg. It woke with a jerk and started trying to fly away but Gohan held on tight. When Gohan pulled it closer to get a better look at it, the bug turned invisible but was still in Gohan's grasp unable to get away. Gohan backhanded another one that hit his shield and shook the one he held onto. After a second the bug turned visible again and grabbed the body of it with his other hand. He focused his attention on it for a moment. "So they do have Ki signature, it is just so weak we could not feel it because they are being swamped out by our Ki's."  
"Stop kissing that damn bug and help me get the rest of these things. There can't be too many of them left now."   
Gohan shook his head and said to the bug, "Sorry, little guy. But we need to finish up here." With that he slammed the bug to the floor and checked to make sure it was knocked out. Then he turned and attacked the next one that hit his shield. After a couple more minutes there were 10 bugs lying on the floor and Gohan and Vegeta were not being attacked any more. Vegeta dropped his shield and floated to the floor. "This damn prize better be worth all this effort. Or I am going to beat the crap out of everybody running this thing just to get my satisfaction. Come on brat, we are done here."  
Gohan had dropped his shield too but stayed floating in the air. "I don't think we are done quite yet, I still hear that buzzing. I think there are a couple more flying around in here."  
Vegeta turned back with a frown. "Why are they not attacking us then?"  
"I don't know. I guess we will need to find them."  
"And how will we do that? We can't sense them and that damn buzzing echoes too much to make anything out."  
"They do have a Ki, but it is so weak we can't pick it up with us powered up like this. Trying lowering your Ki as far as possible and maybe we can find them." Gohan dropped his aura and pushed his Ki down as far as he could get it go and stood very still. Vegeta did the same thing on the other side of the cavern and the place was plunged into complete blackness. Gohan was trying to focus on the slight energy he was picking up when suddenly a shout echoed through the cavern. "HIAAAAA!" Gohan jumped several feet into the air and powered up in a defensive stand without even thinking about it. Then he heard Vegeta's voice. "Ha! Thought you could sneak up on me you damn little bug? They will teach you to mess with the Prince of all Sayians!" There was a moment of silence, then, "Aw, did I scare you Gohan?" There was a definite smirk in the voice.  
Gohan dropped back to the ground and said, "I have never liked very dark places." A chuckle came back through the darkness at him as he dropped his power back down and tried the find the last bug.   
He concentrated for a minute and finally heard the bug flying around near him, so he crouched down a little and waited for the bug to come closer. As it got closer, Gohan found he could sense it now and got a good idea of its location. With a leap he jumped several feet through the air and snatched it on the first try. He landed almost without a sound and then smiled to himself. He closed his eyes and let his senses stretch out again until he found Vegeta. Walking carefully he headed over that way until he was only about 5 feet away.   
He paused for a moment when Vegeta spoke up, "Why are you over here? Not afraid of the dark are you?"   
Gohan responded by powering up his aura of light and thrust the bug into Vegeta's face. "Surprise!"  
Vegeta stumbled back a couple steps with a look of shock on his face which quickly changed over to anger at Gohan's laughter to his reaction. "You baka brat! I should beat you into a bloody pulp for that!"  
Gohan pulled in his laughter but keep smiling. "Why should you be the only one to have any fun here?" He turned and pitched the bug into the nearest wall fast enough to leave a nice bug shaped dent in the wall.   
While Vegeta stood there scowling at Gohan trying to decide if was going to respond to Gohan with words or fists, a voice floated through the cavern. "Congratulations Warriors! You have completed the Trial of Skill. Please return to the shuttle at this time."  
Vegeta just decided to stalk out of the cavern instead. Gohan followed behind him still smiling.  
  
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When the shuttle docked back at the station, one of the officials met them just outside the hanger. "Most well done. We had never seen that technique with the Ki shields before but it is a clever way to get the job done."  
"You were watching us?" Gohan asked.  
"Of course, we have to watch to know if you complete the trials or not." The official smiled, "And to make sure nobody gets too badly hurt in the trials also. We don't want to kill anybody here."  
Vegeta replied, "Whatever. Now, I am hungry. Do you have any real food around here?"  
The grin on the official grew bigger, "We were warned by the first station, so we are ready for you. All the food you could want, right this way." 


	7. The Trial of Power

Six days later, Gohan piloted the ship into the system with the next trial. Vegeta walked up the stairs into the control cabin with a towel in his hand rubbing the last of the water out of his hair. "Are we there yet?"  
"Almost, we just entered the system. I am talking to the station now."  
The radio crackled with the response, "Docking bay 94. You will be met there to verify your identities."  
"Understood. We will be there in 10 minutes."  
  
  
After they had docked, they walked onto the station and were met another official from the tournament. He held out his hand. "Your tournament identity disk please."  
Gohan handed it over after a nod from Vegeta. The official scanned it and gave it back to Gohan. "Welcome. The Trial of Power is currently open, so we are ready if you would like to get started."  
Vegeta and Gohan were surprised. "We had to wait for the last 2 trials, why not here?"  
The official grinned, "Not many teams have even made it this far. So we don't have much of a line waiting around here."  
Vegeta looked over at Gohan who nodded back at Vegeta. "Very well. We are ready. Take us to the trial."  
  
  
"Excellent. This way please." The official led the way into the station and after several turns they stopped in front of some large double doors that had a couple guards standing in front of them. "Here you go. You may enter when ready."   
At that, one of the guards pressed a button next to him and the doors swung open to reveal a large room that seemed to be coated in mirrors. Gohan and Vegeta walked forward onto a small platform that extended out into the room. They saw several mirrored balls floating around in the room, spinning slowly.  
The official stepped up behind them for a moment. "We have to ask one rule for this trial. Please do not use physical force to destroy anything in the room. Doing so will cause you to fail the trial. The walls, mirrors and other things have been reinforced, so you should not be able to damage them accidentally. Good luck." Then he turned and walked out of the room.  
  
  
The doors slid shut behind them with a click and suddenly Gohan and Vegeta found themselves floating in the air. Then the platform there were just standing on started to fold up to cover the doors.   
"What is happening?"  
Vegeta looked around before answering. "It's a zero gravity field. We will just float here unless we do something to move. Use your Ki like if you were trying to fly, but keep it easy for now. Use short bursts to move around. If you apply constant pressure like if you were trying to float in gravity you will fly into a wall."  
Gohan and Vegeta moved out into the room and Gohan tried to practice moving around. "This is harder than it looks. But you look like you are doing okay."  
Vegeta was moving towards one of the walls looking at red jewel embedded in the wall between the mirrors. "We had training in space combat while serving with Frieza. But it was a long time ago."  
  
  
Just then a flash lit up the chamber as a bolt of energy shot across the space, bounced of the wall and went straight back the way it came. Gohan and Vegeta were fast enough looking to see it hit another red crystal in the wall and be absorbed. Then they heard a little creaking as the walls started to bend in and out at various places, changing the angles of the mirrors. A moment later another bolt shot out, and started bouncing around the room at a furious pace. Vegeta dodged as it came past him but a couple bounces later Gohan was not as lucky. The beam caught him in the shoulder and tossed him into a nearby ball of mirrors.   
"Ow! That hurt!" After he recovered his balance and stopped spinning, Gohan looked at his shoulder. There was a burn mark on his armor where the beam hit him. "Something tells me this is going to be painful."  
Vegeta powered up and turned to the wall, spotting another crystal he charged a Ki blast and threw it. The blast hit the crystal dead on and was completely absorbed. Vegeta growled and then ducked as another shot came from behind him. Gohan responded by firing another Ki blast that met the shot just before it hit the far wall. The shots stopped each other, but to Gohan's and Vegeta's surprise there was a small barely visible cloud of energy floating there. After a moment it began to drift and was sucked into another one of those red crystals.   
"So how do we stop this?"  
"How should I know?"  
"There must be some trick that we need to do."  
"Well, according to your mom, you're the genius. Think of something."  
  
  
Gohan glared at Vegeta for a moment and was caught by another blast coming from behind. It hit him in the back of the leg and he screamed in pain. Then jumped over and tried to press himself against the wall to get out of the wall so he could think. Meanwhile Vegeta was flying around trying to look at everything at once. But while they were doing this the shots started to come a little faster and now there were sometimes 2 of them bouncing around the room.   
"Vegeta, how many of those crystals do you see? Maybe if we can hit them all at the same time this will stop."  
Vegeta shook his head as another shot grazed past him. "It's worth a try." He looked around again. "Looks like 5 on each wall."  
"And with 6 walls in here, that means 30 crystals. I will take half." And he jumped out to the center of the room and started to power up. Vegeta did the same as they met in the middle of the room. They both dropped out 15 energy balls and positioned them to hit all at once.  
"On my signal Gohan. Ready, now!"  
Perfectly timed, all 30 blasts were sucked up. And the attacks didn't even pause for a second. Vegeta growled. "That worked well."  
  
  
And with a cry rage Vegeta pushed off to land in front of one of the crystals, and started to power up another attack. He put his hands together and formed a bright ball of energy and then pushed it forward with another cry. "Galick gun, FIRE!"  
A huge flare of energy hit the wall at close range. Some of it bounced back from the mirror surfaces but most of it was absorbed by the crystal. The rest of the energy floated around the room and was quickly sucked up as well.  
Vegeta moved back from the wall, his clothes smoking a little from the rebounded energy. "Well, overloading the system didn't work either."  
Gohan was thinking as fast as he could while trying to dodge the bolts that were still coming more and more frequently. "There must be some trick we are missing…" He broke his thought off as one bolt passed very close to him. "No, it can't be." He stuck his hand out and let it get hit by the next bolt to pass him.  
Vegeta turned just in time to see that and screamed, "What are you doing you foolish baka?"  
  
  
Gohan looked up at Vegeta, "The bolts are stronger now. I think our attacks are feeding more energy into the system."  
Vegeta responded with his usual growl. "So now what?"  
Gohan thought for a second, "What if we try and take some energy out of the system?" With a sudden move he jumped in front of another bolt and cupped his hands to form a circle in front of his chest, then concentrated on the bolt coming right him. Vegeta stood in stunned surprise as the bolt stopped just before it hit Gohan and floated there between his hands. Gohan looked over at Vegeta with a smile on his face which was wiped off as another bolt caught him in the side and lost control of the one he was holding, which floated off towards the wall to be reabsorbed.  
Vegeta glared at Gohan. "What do you think you were doing?"  
"I think we need to try and pull out the energy we have fed the system, if we can suck enough of the energy out, maybe we can shut it down that way."  
"And what would you do with that energy? We don't have any way of getting rid of it."  
"We are just going to have to hold on to it."  
"How are we going to do that? Do I look like some type of Sayian battery to you?"  
"Fine, you collect, I will hold it. I think I can focus it into a ball in front of me." At those words Gohan turned and reached out with his Ki to grab another bolt. Then looked up at Vegeta.   
Vegeta scowled but reached out and grabbed the next bolt to go past him, then he pushed the ball of energy he formed so that it floated gently towards Gohan. Gohan for his part got the new ball of energy under control and merged them together into one ball so it would be easier to handle. Vegeta just grinned to himself. "Just like a true Sayian, never willing to turn down a challenge," he thought, and when on collecting more energy.  
  
  
After several minutes they have started to collect a pretty good amount of the energy when Vegeta finally spoke again. "I think this must be doing it. These bolts are getting weaker."  
"Good, keep going. Let's get this over with." There was a little bit of a strain in Gohan's voice that made Vegeta look back at him. Gohan was starting to sweat and looked like he was getting worn out a little.   
"What's wrong? I know you can handle that much energy, I have seen you use attacks with more power than that."  
"You try holding that energy out there in front of you, and dodge the shots you haven't collected yet, and keep this ball of energy from getting hit or bumping into anything. It's not easy to do that all at once."  
Vegeta just went back to collecting energy and pushing it over to Gohan, but he was working faster. He thought to himself, "Hang in there kid."  
  
  
Just then he heard another grunt of pain from Gohan and turned to see another black spot on the back of Gohan's armor and a couple of his small collected energy balls floating near Gohan, not having been added into the main ball yet. Just then another shot came through and hit one of Vegeta's small energy balls which exploded right next to Gohan's big ball. Vegeta watched in horror as the ball of energy distorted from the blast and Gohan groaned with the effort of trying to keep it under control. Just as it looked like he was getting things back yet another shot bounced in and bit the big ball directly. The ball immediately started to expand and was obviously going to explode.  
Still frozen in horror, time seemed to slow to crawl for Vegeta and he barely even noticed a bolt connecting on his arm. Gohan yelled out a curse word that surprised Vegeta. "Where did he learn that one from? Even Bumla doesn't use it unless she is completely pissed at me." As the thought passed through Vegeta's mind the ball of energy finally exploded. Time retuned to normal as the wave of energy washed over him. He ducked into a defensive position and threw up his arms to protect his face from the blast. As soon as the flash cleared he looked up and shouted "Gohan!" But there was nobody in front of him. There was another momentary flash of horror than ran through his mind. "Kakarott's woman is going to kill me for letting her son die."  
  
  
Then he heard a groan and a cough come from behind him. Vegeta spun around and saw Gohan against the wall in the same type of defensive position Vegeta was just in. Vegeta flew over fast as he could and grabbed Gohan by the shoulders. "Are you alright?"  
Gohan coughed again and looked up. "I think so. I was able to get my shield up in time." Then Gohan grinned, "Besides, you hit me harder than that in training all the time."  
Vegeta's normal scowl returned and he slapped Gohan upside the head. "Insolent brat." Then turned back to the room that now had energy bolts bouncing all around it again. "So what do we do now?"  
"Unless you want to try holding the ball this time…"   
Vegeta frowned. "No thanks."  
"Okay, how about we just absorb the energy ourselves?"  
Vegeta turned and looked at Gohan, "What?"  
"When dad was fighting Frieza on Namak, he was trying to gather energy to make a Spirit Bomb. But Frieza was trying to break his concentration, so Piccolo absorbed some energy from Krillin and I so he could fight Frieza a little longer and let my dad finish his Spirit Bomb. So maybe we can absorb the energy from this room. At least it won't be out in the open where it will explode again."  
"And just how will we do that?"  
"It should not be that difficult. Just think of it as an attack you charged up in your hands, then decided not to use, so you power it back down."  
  
  
Vegeta looked at Gohan in surprise, "Why would you waste a perfectly good attack like that?"  
Gohan gaped at Vegeta for minute, then shook his head, "Never mind." Gohan flew back into room and starting collecting some energy bolts. He collected a half dozen or so and formed them into a ball again. Then moved back against one of the wall and closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment. The ball of energy in front of Gohan shrunk and then vanished. Gohan looked back up at Vegeta, "Well? What are you waiting for? A royal invitation?"  
Vegeta hid his smile. "That kid is spending way too much time around me lately. He is even starting to sound like me." With that thought, Vegeta flew out and started collecting some energy of his own.  
  
  
After about 10 or 15 minutes of working like this both Vegeta and Gohan were sweating with the effort they were expending trying to keep the extra energy in their bodies under control. Vegeta was having a little easier time of having spent more energy in attacks early on but it was starting to catch up with him as well. Gohan was panting as he kept gathering energy and had a little bit of a yellow glow starting to show in his eyes. Vegeta was starting to wonder how much more energy there was to be collected, when he noticed a sudden drop-off in the strength of the bolts. "I think we are almost there Gohan. Hold on just a little bit longer."  
Gohan nodded but did not bother to respond. He just kept working away trying to ignore the pain he was starting to feel. Suddenly the attacks stopped. Both Gohan and Vegeta looked around in surprise and floated to the center of the room. Then that voice come floating through the air again. "Congratulations Warriors! You have passed the Trial of Power!"  
  
  
Then a section out of one of the walls started to move as the platform folded down the reveal the doors they entered by. The official looked into the room. "Wonderful! You are only the 3rd team to complete all three trials! You did a fantastic job. Now if you would come over here."  
Vegeta and Gohan floated to the door, landed and walked through. The official moved to an alcove on the other side of the hall and opened a panel. There was another large red crystal behind it. "If you are willing, please place your hand on the crystal and return our power to us. It helps a lot when it comes to recharging that room."  
Gohan quickly moved over and put his hand on the crystal and with a sigh of relief, let all the extra power flow out of him. Once he was done he stepped away to let Vegeta in and slumped against the wall. Vegeta took his turn and let the extra energy go, then turned back to the official. "What now?"  
  
  
"Please follow me."  
Gohan got up and walked down the hall following Vegeta. The official led them a short ways and then stopped before a closed door. "In here please."  
They walked in to a balcony overlooking a large room. Curious they walked out onto the balcony and looked down into a sea of faces looking back up at them. The official stepped up next to them and called out to the crowd. "The Sayian Team of Prince Vegeta and Gohan have successfully completed all 3 trials! They are going on to the Tournament!"  
The crowd broke into a roar of cheers and applause for the pair of Sayians!  
  
  
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Author's notes:  
Thanks for the reviews so far people. Keep them coming.   
Also, at a suggestion, I am trying to space things out a little more to make it easier to read. Please let me know if my changes help. 


	8. Friends or Foes?

After Gohan and Vegeta had spent a few minutes soaking up the cheers from the crowd, they were invited to head down the nearby stairs and mingle for a while. Since the tournament would not start for another 10 days and it would only take 3 to get to where they needed to be, Gohan and Vegeta decided to kill some time.  
They wandered through the crowd for a while talking and asking questions. They were able to find out a little information on the other 2 teams that had completed the trials so far. One team was called Ga-nich. It was a six member team of 3 foot tall blue beetles. Not much else was known about them. The second team had a local reputation as mercenaries for hire. Some people said they were the toughest team in the whole tournament and favorites to win it all. They went under the name of the Quazar Quartet and they were reported to have the highest individual power level and the highest team power level. It was also said their egos where as high as the power levels, but nobody could beat them, so their egos ran unchecked.  
  
Gohan and Vegeta wandered for a while and everybody had been pretty friendly until they were stopped by a group of 6 feline looking fighters. "You are Prince Vegeta that worked for Frieza?   
Vegeta looked at each one for a second then turned back to the one that spoke to him. "I am. What business of it is yours?"  
"We are here to give you fair warning."  
Vegeta didn't say anything, he just continued to look at the fighter.  
"Almost 9 years ago, you came to our planet. You and your fighters killed our people, destroyed our cities and sold our race as slaves to anyone who would buy us. We desire to restore the honor of our people. That honor requires that we kill you."  
Vegeta smiled. "What makes you think you can kill me?"  
"We have trained long and hard to make ourselves as strong as possible, now we are fighting in the tournament, and after we win the prize, we will take our revenge."  
  
Gohan spoke up, "You have completed all 3 trials as well then?"  
"We take the 3rd trial tomorrow morning. And we will pass it. Our honor demands it. Also let it be known, honor demands we follow the rules of the tournament. As long as either of us is still involved, you are safe from harm. But once it is over we will come looking for our revenge."  
The fighter looked back at Vegeta. "If you wish to live longer than that, I suggest you run and go back into your coward's hiding place you have been in. But even that will not save you for long, we will find you."  
Vegeta's eyes glinted in anger, "I am no coward, and I see no reason to fear you. I will be waiting for you once this is all done."  
Gohan stepped up, "And so will I. So be sure you are ready for both of us when you come looking for a fight."  
"Our fight does not concern you little one, you should run home to your mommy before you get hurt."  
Gohan smiled. "I don't think I will be the one hurting."  
  
One of the other fighters spoke up then, "Why do you defend this monster, do you not know what he has done?"  
"I know what he has done, but I am Sayian and he is my prince. Do I need any other reason to stand by his side in a fight?"  
The first one looked back at Vegeta, "Your companion is brave but foolish, it is no matter to us. We will leave you until after the tournament, then we will meet again." And they turned and walked away.   
After they had disappeared into the crowd, Vegeta turned and looked at Gohan. "What do you think you were doing?"  
Gohan smiled, "Maybe they will think twice if they know they have to fight both of us. They just might leave you alone."  
"I don't need any help taking care of those furry wimps."  
"I know. But we are supposed to be a team, and since when do team members have to work alone?"  
Vegeta just shook his head and walked away.   
  
  
Several days later they landed on Ceti Thersus and made their way to the palace where the tournament was going to be held. They were escorted to special quarters inside the place where they could stay until this was all done with. Once they had dropped their bags off, they were given a short tour of the area including the main stadium where the opening and closing ceremonies where going to be held. The stadium was oval shaped, about 75 yards wide and 150 yards long. It had an open dirt floor ringed by 15 foot high walls. Embedded near the top of the walls was a ring of 11 identical ruby red crystals each 1 foot in diameter. The spot where the 12th crystal should have been, in the middle of one side, there was an alcove with a large chair in the middle of it. And centered on the arch over the alcove, was another crystal, 3 times the size of the others. Above and behind the walls were rows of seating for the crowds to enjoy the events. Gohan looked around for a minute and commented, "It's a small space to fight in, and with all these people nearby people could get hurt too easily. I guess we are going to have to be careful."  
  
"Oh no Master Warrior." Responded the official that was showing them around. "The fights will not be in here." He led them to a holographic map mounted on one wall. "Just outside the main city is a large crater. You will fight there, we have set up cameras around the area and will project images of the fights back to the people here for them to see."  
Vegeta nodded. "Good. That should make things more interesting."  
They started back towards the entrance to the arena when another group walked in. Gohan stopped and stared at them for a second. "The big looks familiar somehow…" He thought to himself.  
Then the official they were with spoke up, "Ah, there they are. Gentlemen, I would like you to meet…"   
  
The official trailed off as suddenly all four of the new group jumped into air and started doing flips and cartwheels. The big one landed in with his feet spread wide and arms held straight out to the sides. Then he called out, "I am Coombra, Master of Might!"   
Next the two middle sized ones landed in front of him and leaned in towards each bending their arms over their heads to touch their fingers together. (A/N: Think the last step of the fusion dance.) They looked like twins and called out, "We are Trace and Pace, the Sultans of Speed!" Then the smallest one landed in front with his legs together and arms pointed straight forward. "I am Yardra, Mojo of the Mystic Mind!"  
  
Then the large one spun around to face the other way and put his hands straight up. The twins jumped up, did a flip and landed on Coombra's hands. One foot each on separate hands, they started to lean outwards from each other with their outside leg and arm extended. Their inside arm grabbed the arms of Yardra who had jumped up in the middle, except he was upside down. Then all together they called out, "Together we are known as…"  
And they jumped into the air again with Yardra coming down first and landing sitting in a cross legged position. Coombra landed right above him like he was doing a pushup with his head right above Yardra's. Trace and Pace landed on each side of Coombra in a mirror image 3 point stance. "… The Quazar Quartet!"  
  
Then Coombra rolled forward and stopped in a sitting position. Yardra jumped up and stood on his shoulders, while Trace and Pace took a couple steps forward and leaned on Coombra, each with a hand on his shoulder. The big guy smiled. "Are you impressed yet?"  
The official, Vegeta and Gohan stood there with stunned looks on their faces. And Vegeta started muttering under his breath, "These fools are as bad as those idiotic Ginyu!"  
All Gohan heard was Ginyu, but it was enough for him to make the connection. He pointed suddenly to the big one, "Hey, you look just like Recoom from the Ginyu Force."  
Coombra looked surprised, "He was my older brother, did you know him?"  
  
  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
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Authors notes:  
Okay, this was a short chapter. But I added a little cliff hanger to make it more fun. With the holidays almost on us at this point, there might be a little delay in getting new chapters up, but I don't intend leave you hanging forever.  
  
Oh! And thanks for the reviews so far. I am glad people are enjoying this story! 


	9. The Opening Ceromonies

Well, I am back finally. I wish I could give you some type of excuse as to why it has been so long, but I can only say that laziness was a big factor. I am going to try and be a little better about it here, and see if I can get a chapter out every week or so until I finish the story.   
I have a couple more ideas for stories that I want to write about but am going to punish myself but not starting on those until I make some progress here. But keep you eyes open, I will be throwing some more stuff into the mix soon enough. I hope.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
  
"Hey, you look just like Recoome from the Ginyu Force."  
  
Coombra looked surprised, "He was my older brother, did you know him?"  
  
Gohan gave him a sick grin. "Um, yea. Kind of. Well, I did get to meet him once."  
  
"Oh. I was hoping you might have known how he died. Did you know he died?"  
  
"I think I had heard that. Why do you want to know how he died?" Gohan noticed out of the corner of his eye that Vegeta had taken a step back and started to raise his power level a little bit.  
  
"I am hoping his end was fitting for the fool that he was."  
  
"Huh?" Gohan's question was echoed by Vegeta.  
  
"Well, I'm sure you realized what a stupid, aggressive blockhead he was. Always picking fights and beating on people that couldn't fight back, and having fun with it. I hope whoever beat him took the time make him suffer a little bit on the on way out. It was no more than he deserved."  
  
"Um, you really seem upset by his death. Didn't you like your brother?"  
  
Coombra busted out laughing. "Like him? I hated his guts. After all the pranks he played on me and all the times he beat me up as a kid, I would have been willing to kill him myself. But I never got the chance."  
  
Then Yardra spoke up, "Enough about us, I don't think we caught your names?"  
  
"My name is Gohan, and that is Vegeta."  
  
"Are you one of the teams that completed the trials?"  
  
Gohan nodded.  
  
"Great! I look forward to seeing what you guys can do on the battlefield." Then he turned to his teammates. "Let's go guys, we need to work on that opening pose some more, I don't think any of us where lined up right." And then they all wandered off with Trace and Pace waving to the Sayians as they walked away. Then Coombra stopped and turned back to them. "Vegeta? That name is familiar. You sure we haven't met any place?"  
  
Vegeta shook his head. Coombra shrugged and finally turned away and walked off.  
  
Gohan turned to Vegeta, "Did any of that give you a headache too?"  
  
Vegeta nodded, still staring at the door the Quazar Quartet walked though.  
  
"Okay, I am going to go lay down for a while. See you later Vegeta."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Vegeta and Gohan stood in a small alcove looking into the arena. They could hear the roar of the crowd that had gathered for the Opening Ceremonies of the tournament. They had been told to wait in the alcove and they would be introduced to the crowd, so they spent a few minutes trying to see if they could figure out who might be other fighters in the tournament by sorting Ki signatures. They had not met any of the other teams so far and most of the info they had to go on was rumor and hearsay.  
  
Gohan shook his head. "Most of the crowd out there seems to be warriors of some type. Everybody has some type of power and there is so much of it, it is hard to even pick out individual ones."  
  
Vegeta didn't respond but Gohan could see a look of frustration in his eye. Gohan turned back to the entrance and asked the host standing there. "How much longer until they get this started?"  
  
"Not long now, young warrior." The roar of the crowd grew to a deafening level. "That should be for Lord Ventard. Once they get him and the ruling council seated, they should start bringing out the teams. Please remember, when you enter walk to the center and bow to Lord Ventard."  
  
"I still don't see why I have to bow to him."  
  
The host looked at Vegeta, "It's a show of respect for holding this tournament. And he will also take it as thanks for allowing you to stay in his palace during this."  
  
Vegeta just rolled his eyes and after a moment nodded. "Very well, this once."  
  
  
  
Just then they heard the announcer start talking again. "Assembled folk! Honored Guests! It's time to meet the warrior teams that have completed the 3 Trials of Excellence and will fight for the honor of their people. As many of you know, the trials were very difficult, as so only the best would be able to fight here today. But little did we know how difficult those trials would be. In fact of nearly 325 teams that originally signed up, only 5 made it through all 3 trials!"  
  
Vegeta and Gohan looked at each other. "Five teams? We came all this way to end up fighting only 4 other teams? I have half a mind to walk out and leave this sham to itself."  
  
The host turned back to them, "Don't worry. After the tournament is over, they will hold an open house for a couple weeks. Anybody can challenge anybody, one on one, or any mix of teams. I am sure many groups would love to challenge you."  
  
Outside the announcer had gone on, describing the trials and explaining what each trial tested. "And now, we will bring you the 5 finalists! The teams will be introduced by their total power level as measured when they signed up, so without any more delay I bring you the first finalist!"  
  
"With a total power level of 19.8 million, this team has surprised many by making it this far. Even though there are only 2 of them, they showed themselves to be un-stoppable and will make for great fights! I bring you Prince Vegeta and Gohan, the Sayians!"  
  
Gohan and Vegeta walked out into the arena to an enormous roar. Gohan waved to the crowd as Vegeta just looked around taking in the crowd. When they reached the center of the ring they turned to the dais where Lord Ventard was seated. Gohan stood next to Vegeta, waiting for his lead. Vegeta for his part stood straight and met the eyes of Lord Ventard. After they stared for a moment, Vegeta smiled and then bowed his head. Gohan matched his actions, as did Lord Ventard.   
  
"Our second team, hailing from the far end of quadrant 734, has come a long way to be part of this grand event. They are part of the Ga-nich Homogony and as such, they don't have individual names. But with a combined power level of 36 million, this six person team is anything but ordinary. Welcome the Ga-nich!"  
  
At that, 6 small creatures came marching in lockstep formation out of another alcove. As soon as they had moved out of the shadow, Gohan was surprised to see looked like 3 foot tall beetles. They had a dark blue shell, brown underbelly and black heads. Their arms and legs looked pathetically small, but Gohan remembered from his lessons that insects on Earth were incredibly strong for their size, so he thought these might be so too. They walked to the center of the ring seemly ignoring the crowds and stopped a few paces from Vegeta and Gohan. As one, they turned and bowed to Lord Ventard.  
  
"Next is a 3 member team that has shown great promise in the trials. They passed all 3 with the fastest times shown by any of the teams. So not only are they strong and fast, they don't like to waste time when the action gets started. They have a combined power total of 45 million and seem to find impressive ways of showing how good they are with that power. They are Sritick, Kitrick, and Titrick; The Brothers Itrick!"  
  
With that 3 tall and solidly built lizards walked out into the open. They stood just over 7 feet tall and had solid, well muscled frames. They each had gray scales for skin, sapphire blue eyes and thick but flexible tail. Their outfits were easily the most eye catching part, all they wore were one piece tunics looking similar in design to a leotard, they were colored in thin vertical stripes of bright red, green, yellow and blue. The stripes were in a different sequence on each of them, otherwise they looked exactly alike. As they walked out waved to the crowd and threw small Ki balls into the air that exploded like fireworks. Once they reached the center of the arena, they bowed to Lord Ventard and when straightening back up, threw a triple burst of Ki into the air that exploded with a load bang and showered sparks all over the stadium.   
  
"Now comes one of the great mysteries of these games. This 5 member team is from a race that nobody has ever heard of before and they are unwilling to tell us where they hail from. But they skill as warriors has been proven in the trials so they stand here with us today, ready to face the next challenge. They come to us with a combined team power of just over 50 million and an intense concentration that seems to know no bounds. Their names are unpronounceable by anyone who tried so they have agreed to be called simply, The Feathered Follies!"  
  
And out they came, 5 members of an avian stock that truly looked like some mad scientist had managed to cross a chicken with a normal human. Their bodies were mostly human shaped except they only had 3 digits on each appendage. Their heads looks like it was pure bird like, right down to a short curved beak. They wore no clothes of any type and they bodies were covered in lightly colored feathers. Coming from the top of their heads each one had a bright red crest of feathers that flopped around freely has they moved and turned their heads. Waving to the crowd they walked to the center of the arena and bowed to Lord Ventard.   
  
"And as they say, last but definitely not least is our fifth team! This group of fighters has already made a name for themselves in several local sectors and is the odds on favorites to win it all here. All 4 of them are not only great warriors but showmen of great pride. Their team power comes in at a staggering 75 million, and I am told they love their job which makes it just that much better for all of us. Welcome Yardra, Trace, Pace and Coombra; The Quazar Quartet!  
  
They came bouncing into the arena doing flips and cartwheels. As they reached the center of the arena, they suddenly went into a routine that reminded Gohan of some of the cheerleading squads he had seen on TV back home. After several poses and a couple chants, the Quartet landed facing Lord Ventard and bowed to him.  
  
"There you go! Our five finalist teams for the Great Ceti Thersus Tournament! Now Lord Ventard has a few words before the matches begin."  
  
Lord Armond Ventard stood up and waved to the crowd for a moment waiting for them to quiet down so he could be heard. "Let me give my congratulations the five finalist teams. I know what you went through to get here today and I have the greatest respect for your skills and determination!" He turned his had back up to the crowd, "And let's also congratulate those many teams that also took part in the trials but cannot be here today!"  
  
The crowds continued to roar in response.   
  
Ventard waved again to quiet the crowd down. "Now for the tournament, because we had originally expected several more teams to make the finals we had planned on a simple, elimination style match-up. But since we only have 5 teams, we had decided on different format. Instead we will be fighting round-robin style. So each team will get a chance to test itself against the others."  
  
"There are only 2 rules for this tournament. First there is no use of deadly force allowed. Doing so will get your entire team eliminated from the tournament. Second, you must remain within the zone of combat. If you leave the marked area during a fight, you will not be allowed to rejoin your team for that fight. However, if you are thrown or blasted clear out of the area, you must return as quickly as you can. If you are not able to return within 5 minutes you will not be allowed to return until the fight is over."  
  
"Each team will fight once per day, so we will have two matches each day for the next five days. So a team will fight 4 times and have one day off. Now to determine the lineups for the fights each day, I would to have one member from each team come up and draw from the bin here. The number drawn will place you in the tournament and also determine which day you will have off. We will draw in the order the teams where introduced today."  
  
Vegeta nodded and Gohan walked up, reached in and pulled out a ball with the number 3 on it. A Ga-nich drew number 5, one of the Itrick pulled number 1 and the Follies got number 2, leaving number 4 for the Quazar Quartet.  
  
So it ended up lining up like this:  
  
Day 1: Itrick (#1) Off  
Follies (#2) Vs Sayians (#3)  
Quazar (#4) Vs Ga-nich (#5)  
  
Day 2: Follies (#2) Off  
Itrick (#1) Vs Quazar (#4)  
Sayians (#3) Vs Ga-nich (#5)  
  
Day 3: Sayians (#3) Off  
Itrick (#1) Vs Ga-nich (#5)  
Follies (#2) Vs Quazar (#4)  
  
Day 4: Quazar (#4) Off  
Itrick (#1) Vs Sayians (#3)  
Follies (#2) Vs Ga-nich (#5)  
  
Day 5: Ga-nich (#5) Off  
Itrick (#1) Vs Follies (#2)  
Sayians (#3) Vs Quazar (#4)  
  
Lord Ventard stood up and waved to get the crowds attention again. "Let the tournament begin!" 


	10. Round 1: The Feathered Follies

Gohan and Vegeta stepped out of the shuttle that had brought them out to the fighting area. They found themselves overlooked a rocky crater in the ground almost a mile wide. There was a slight rise in the center with a large flat area on top of it. The teams were to meet in that area and begin the fights there. The whole crater was allowed to be the battleground, but you had to stay within the walls defined by the outer rim. They could go as high as they wanted however, right up to the edge of space. On the far wall, they could see another shuttle sitting, having just dropped of their opponents for this round, The Feathered Follies.  
  
Vegeta looked over at Gohan, "We can power up more for these fights, but I still want to hold Super Sayian in reserve. There is something about this whole setup that troubles me, and the fewer people that know we can go super, the better."  
  
Gohan nodded. "I still think we will be able to surprise some people with the power increase we are going to show. Shall we go meet our first opponents?"  
  
They jumped into the air and flew down to the center of the ring, while the 5 warriors on the other side did the same thing. Gohan was surprised once he got a good look at the Follies. All five members where wearing suits of metal armor that almost completely covered their bodies. The two teams glared at each other for a moment and then at a chirp all the Follies turned and faced each other in a circle holding one hand straight forward so they almost touched. Then a hum started with a bright ball of energy appearing right in front of the circle of hands. The tone and volume of the hum increased as the size of the ball increased. When the ball touched their hands, sudden streaks of lightening zapped out across the armor and the armor started to glow like the ball of energy. Suddenly they all thrust their other hand into the center as well and let out a high pitched scream. The ball of light exploded engulfing them in a wave of energy.  
  
Gohan and Vegeta put up their hands to shield themselves from the glare of the blast. Then when it started to fade, Vegeta waved his hand under his nose. "Yuck, I hate the smell of burnt feathers." Then they got their first good look at the Follies. The armor they had been wearing seemed to have fused into their bodies and with a sudden move they all jumped backwards and each of them when into a quick routine of throwing punches and kicks like they were warming up. Once they were done, they landed back in front of Vegeta and Gohan. The one in the center stepped forward and spoke in a high pitched voice. "Are you ready to surrender yet?"  
  
Vegeta quickly responded, "We are Sayians, we will never surrender. Besides, you are not the only ones with some tricks." At that he nodded to Gohan and they both started to power up. With screams of intensity they both brought their power levels up to their non-super Sayian max. Then they dropped into a fighting stance and Vegeta waved his hand to invite the Follies to attack. With a yell, they did and the battle was joined.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Meanwhile as the crowd was in the stadium cheering a screaming out support for the two teams, in the royal booth, an advisor approached Lord Ventard. "It seems both teams where holding back on us when the power levels were checked. The Follies have each increased their power by 2 million. So their total team power is now about 60 million."   
  
Ventard nodded, "That power increase might come from the fact they powered up together. I have seen it before in various groups."  
  
"We think the same thing my Lord. However, the Sayians were holding back on us for sure. Their power levels have almost tripled."  
  
"What? Tripled?" Ventard looked at his private display which showed him power levels of the fighters. Gohan was now listed at about 27 million and Vegeta was almost at 30 million. "No wonder they were able to pass the trials after all. This should make things much more interesting."  
  
"Yes my lord."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Vegeta and Gohan had mostly stayed on the defensive early in the fight, blocking and dodging the attacks thrown at them. The Follies were working in 3 teams, there were two of each physically attacking the Sayians, while the fifth one was throwing energy attacks and making diving runs to get a few punches and kicks in. They kept rotating positions in the fight so seemed to be prepared to keep this up for a while. Meanwhile Vegeta was starting to get bored with this and the next time the 5th one dove in for an attack Vegeta leapt forward and caught him with a quick kick that sent him flying to the ground hard. Then he backhanded one of the others attacking him to knock him backwards and a quick Ki blast sent the 3rd head over heels. The two attacking Gohan paused for a second in surprise at quickly Vegeta knocked their teammates away. Gohan took quick action, he grabbed the one on his right and spun in a quick circle and use the one he held as a club on the other one. They both went crashing to ground and Gohan dropped an energy bomb on them that sent rocks flying. They lay in the bottom of the new crater for a moment stunned. But recovered quickly and flew up to meet the rest of their team where they started having a conference to discuss a new strategy.   
  
Gohan floated over to Vegeta inspecting a bloody knuckle he had. "Watch it when you hit them, thanks to that armor their skin is as hard as steel. And the edges are almost as sharp."  
  
Vegeta nodded, "I noticed." And he looked down at a small cut in his leg. "One of them did that on the flyby. They may try that trick some more to weaken us, so keep your guard up."  
  
The Follies stopped talking with each other and stuck both hands back into the circle like they before. Vegeta frowned at the movement, wondering if they were going to power up again. But this time after the ball of energy formed they kept pushing more energy into it and then with a sudden move launched it right at Vegeta and Gohan. The Sayians quickly moved to the side as the ball zoomed past them and watched in surprise as it turned and started tracking after Gohan. Gohan took off, flying fast to try and stay away from the attack. Vegeta cursed and start after Gohan forming an energy ball of his own to try and blow up the attacking ball. But he barely got started when he had to pull up suddenly to avoid a kick to the face. Four of the Follies attacked Vegeta while the fifth one seemed to be guiding the ball following Gohan.   
  
Gohan started flying in a more evasive pattern making it hard for the attack to catch up and home in on him. Meanwhile Vegeta had his hands full with 4 of them attacking him. The arms and legs were flying along with several low energy blasts they were all using in the close range fight. He was starting to take some hits and considering taking it up to Super Sayian when another blast flew in from the outside and hit one of the Follies dead on. The explosion knocked him away from the fight and startled the others enough to let Vegeta bounce clear of them and catch his breath. He smiled as Gohan zoomed under him throwing more attacks at the Follies that had been surrounding Vegeta.   
  
The Follies split up and dove away from Gohan who looped down close to the ground to try and loose the ball of energy chasing him. Meanwhile Vegeta had taken advantage of the distraction and dove onto one of the Follies and with a couple quick blows sent the creature plummeting to the ground. He was buried under several large rocks that where knocked loose in his impact with the ground. Two more of the Follies looped around and charged at Vegeta from opposite directions but his warriors senses where not fooled and he dodged to the side at the last moment. As the 2 Follies tried desperately to avoid hitting each other Vegeta dove back in and grabbed each of them by an ankle. Before they could react, Vegeta brought his arms together and slammed the two birds together stunning them for a moment.   
  
Still floating in the air, Vegeta then began to spin like a top with his arms to each side and still holding on to the two Follies. Then in a planned move, Vegeta threw one of the Follies he was holding right at the one still guiding the bomb after Gohan. However, Vegeta's aim appeared to be a bit off as the guiding Follie only had to drop down a foot or so to be missed by the one thrown at him. But that move was just what Vegeta wanted, he had already thrown the second Follie and the impact was enough to send both of them falling from the sky. With the bomb guiding Follie having his concentration broken, the energy ball stopped it's maneuvers and ran straight into a nearby wall.   
  
Gohan pulled up from his mad dash to avoid the explosion and drifted over to Vegeta, "Thanks for finally getting that thing off me. I was getting tired of that game of keep away."  
  
Vegeta nodded as he glanced around looking the other Follie that had not be accounted for yet, finally he spotted him digging his buddy out of the mound of rock that had ended up on top of him. While the 5 Follies got themselves back together, Vegeta and Gohan took a moment to catch their breath and decide on the next thing to do. Vegeta spoke up, "Time for us to take the offensive." Gohan nodded and looked over at where the Follies had gathered to talk their next step over.   
  
Gohan held his hands in front of him and charged up a ball of energy then with a yell split it into more than a dozen little balls and sent them raining down after the Follies. They were deep in discussion and didn't notice the attack until they suddenly found themselves being thrown around by the explosions. Vegeta dove in and grabbed another one by the arm and proceeded to try and use him as a club against the other Follies. The rest were paying attention again and managed to avoid being hit and after a moment Vegeta just tossed his club away intending to let his fists do the work from then on.   
  
Gohan flew over and both groups where quickly back to engaged in hand-to-hand combat, just as they had at the beginning of the fight. This time they ended up with 2 on Gohan and 3 on Vegeta as both sides moved around trying to get the upper hand. One of the Follies in front of Gohan started trying to taunt him, "Give it up little mammal. There are only 2 of you and 5 of us, you cannot win."  
  
Gohan grinned, "I have fought odds of 7 to 1 and beat them. I don't see any reason to give up."  
  
The Follie was not impressed and chirped back at Gohan. "Whatever trick you used to win that fight will not work against us. So save yourself the effort and surrender."  
  
Gohan raised his voice some so that Vegeta could hear what he was about to say. "If you want tricks, I can give you tricks! Watch closely! This is one I learned from a friend named Tien!" Gohan bounced back a short distance and put his hand up to his face with his fingers splayed out. All the Follies turned and looked in his direction with a couple of them squinting to make out Gohan's form against the sun. Vegeta shook his head and threw an arm over his face just as Gohan yelled out, "Solar Flare!"  
  
There was a blinding flash of light that Vegeta saw even through his closed and covered eyes. But his ears told him of the success of Gohan's tactic as he heard screams of pain from the Follies as the incredible light overwhelmed their eyes. Vegeta opened his eyes to see Gohan diving between the 2 fighting him and throwing a vicious punch at one of the three around Vegeta. Not one to let anybody else have all the fun, Vegeta quickly grabbed the other two and beat them together several times.   
  
Gohan took his and with several punches to the head and gut left the Follie reeling in pain and confusion as he still couldn't see what was attacking him. Gohan grabbed him by the back of the neck and with a quick spin threw him as hard as he could over the rim wall of the crater. He turned back to see Vegeta planting the two Follies he was holding in the ground like a couple strange flowers. Both Follies dropped over unconscious and their power levels dropped back to almost nothing.  
  
Gohan looked back at the Follie that spoke to him before and smiled as it finally seemed to get his vision back. "Looks like it is now 2 on 2. Do you still want me to give up?"  
  
The last 2 Follies looked at each other and then back down at Gohan and Vegeta who were now floating side by side. After a quick moment they made a decision and with a scream took off in opposite directions. Gohan and Vegeta stood there watching as they both flew out of the crater and kept going.  
  
"Disappointing. They should have at least stayed and trying to avenge their fellows." Vegeta sighed. "How can you be true warriors if you run from every challenge you are faced with?"  
  
Gohan shrugged. Just then a small silver ball floated down near them. "Congratulations Sayians! You have won your first round fight. Please return to the shuttle and we will bring you back to the palace." 


	11. Round 2: The GaNich

As day 2 of the tournament got started the Sayians were in the afternoon fight. They were not being allowed to watch the other teams fight, nor could they learn who won the other fight. But this did not concern them. They figured they could handle anything that came their way. So after some mild morning sparing to warm up and a big lunch, they go into their shuttle to get ready for the next fight.   
  
Once they got to they crater, they flew down and looked around a little. They noted a fair number of smaller craters were scattered around now. "Looks like a couple interesting fights happened. I would have liked to seen them just to see what happened."  
  
Vegeta nodded but focused his attention in the Ga-nich as they landed in front of them. Vegeta just smiled, "Well shoot, I forgot to bring my bug spray today." The Ga-nich seemed to ignore the insult and broke into 2 groups of 3 and charged the Sayians right away. Gohan and Vegeta fell back and started to power up, but quickly found themselves being pummeled themselves from the attackers. The Ga-nich also had a number of sharp edges on their arms and legs and soon opened up a number of cuts on both warriors. The Ga-nich didn't really hit that hard, but with 4 arms and 2 legs they were just too fast to keep from getting in a few blows. After Gohan got a painful cut across his butt, his frustration exploded and with a yell he powered up and blew a wall of energy away from himself that sent the bugs near him flying. The Ga-nich quickly recovered and started back but it gave Gohan time to throw a dozen Ki balls at the bugs still beating on Vegeta. Vegeta was able to use that as a distraction enough to land a couple solid blows and get enough time for him to finish powering up.  
  
Now both at full power, they took the attack to the Ga-nich instead and just about started using them like tennis balls as they batted them around the crater. Finally after a couple minutes of that Vegeta and Gohan tired of this and paused their attacks so they could catch their breath. The Ga-nich regrouped and came after Vegeta and Gohan with another attack, this time with them standing all together and throwing dozens of Ki blasts. The Sayians started dodging and if one got too close they would bat it away.   
  
After a short time of this, Gohan yelled out to Vegeta, "Cover me!" and jumped back to stand behind Vegeta and cupped his hands together to start a familiar chant. "Ka…. Me…"  
  
Vegeta grinned and started throwing Ki blasts of his own that went impacting on the one the ones coming from the Ga-nich and filling the air between them with smoke.   
  
Meanwhile Gohan continued to focus his energy, "Ha…Me…"  
  
Then Vegeta zoomed upwards to get out of the way. The Ga-nich caught a glimpse of Gohan through the clouds of smoke and quickly gathered their own power into an attack as well. Gohan finished with a powerful yell, "HA!" and thrust his hands forward to send a beam of energy zooming at the Ga-nich. They responded with a beam of their own that met the Kamahema halfway. But Gohan's beam quickly overpowered the other one and blasted its way through to where the Ga-nich were gathered. As it hit the source of their beam it exploded and the fireball sent everybody flying, even Gohan and Vegeta.   
  
Gohan and Vegeta quickly recovered and stood there watching the Ga-nich try and pick themselves up off the ground. Gohan was still panting with the effort extended when the Ga-nich gathered together and started something strange. The jumped on top of each other to form 2 columns of 3 each, then with the first sounds uttered since the fight began they started to buzz. After a moment they started to glow and the glow soon surrounded them and merged into one big glowing ball. A wave of energy blasted out from the ball and a spike of fire shot straight up. Gohan and Vegeta looked on in confusion as the glow faded and they found themselves facing not six bugs but one warrior with an impressively high Ki. This new warrior looked similar to a blue version of Cell but had insects face and 4 arms.  
  
Gohan and Vegeta frowned at each other and landed some distance away from the new form of the Ga-nich. "Hmm, I would guess a power level of about 45 million now. Another group power-up to increase power. At least he is not as strong as Cell, do you think we can still take without having to transform, Vegeta?"  
  
"I think so, but we will have to be careful, he is stronger than either of us in this form, so try not to let him hit you too much." Gohan nodded and dropped into a fighting stance next to Vegeta as the Ga-nich jumped into the air and flew in their direction. Just before he can in range to start throwing punches, Vegeta and Gohan jumped outwards and went in opposite directions away from the Ga-nich. He paused a second then went after Vegeta, so Gohan turned and started throwing Ki blasts in his direction. The Ga-nich ignored the blasts and focused in on Vegeta who finally turned and met the monster head on. Punches and kicks flew fast and furious for a minute until the Ga-nich landed a solid blow on Vegeta's chin that stunned him for a moment. But before the Ga-nich could follow up, Gohan appeared and kicked him hard in the lower back. The impact knocked him to the ground, but he recovered quickly to turn and find a pair of energy blasts from Gohan and Vegeta about to impact on him. He just had time to raise his arms to a defensive position before they hit. Before the smoke had even cleared, the Ga-nich charged up and caught Gohan with a hard punch to the gut. As Gohan doubled over in pain, the Ga-nich snapped off a round-kick that sent Gohan to the ground and crashing through several large rocks. Vegeta meanwhile had darted forward and caught the Ga-nich with a double blow to the back of the head which caused him to slump forward.   
  
Then Vegeta grabbed one of the arms floating in front of him and started to spin. After several rotations to gain speed, Vegeta let go and the Ga-nich flew into the side of the crater and was buried in the rock dislodged by the force of the impact.  
  
Then Vegeta flew down to where Gohan lay, half buried in the rock. "Are you alright?"  
A cough come up from the rock, "Yea, I took harder hits when Piccolo was first training me." Vegeta nodded and moved a couple pieces off Gohan and started to bend over to pick him up when his eyes suddenly went wide. Before he could react, the Ga-nich connected with a thrusting kick against the side of Vegeta's head that sent him bouncing across the ground, finally coming to a stop as he lay there unmoving.  
  
Gohan jumped up and threw a couple punches at the mid-section of the Ga-nich but was knocked away by another arm. Gohan recovered, stopped himself and charged back into the fight and connected with a couple more blows before he was caught and tossed into a nearby boulder. As he rolled out of the rubble from the impact, he grabbed a large chuck of rock, jumped up and threw it at the Ga-nich with all the force he could muster. An energy blast tore its way through the thrown rock, disintegrating it and flying right at Gohan. He jumped out of the way, saw the Ga-nich coming for him and ducked into the explosion caused by that Ki blast. Zooming out the other side, he paused to charge another attack when the Ga-nich suddenly caught up to him and sent Gohan crashing to the ground again.   
  
Gohan managed to keep his balance after landing and jumped up into the air. "If Vegeta doesn't get back into this fight soon, I am going to have to transform to keep going." He thought as is eyes drifted over to where Vegeta was laying. But then he suddenly froze, Vegeta was not there! Before Gohan could look around, trouble with 4 arms was back and Gohan took several more punches to the head and shoulders before he crashed to the ground again. Gohan shook his head to try and clear the ringing when he felt Vegeta's power start to rise again. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Vegeta had moved to a tall rock some distance from Gohan was focusing his energy into a ball that was collecting in front of him. "Got to give him time to finish his attack," Gohan thought to himself and then rolled to the side just in time to avoid having his head driven into the ground by a pair of fists. He shot into the air away from Vegeta, then stopped and turned around raising his hands above his head. Gohan looked at the Ga-nich flying up towards him and focused his energy, "Masenko… HA!" Gohan let fly with everything he had right at the Ga-nich. But the Ga-nich didn't even pause, he burst through the attack and landed several rapid punches to Gohan's gut and ribs.   
  
Gohan cried out in pain as a spurt of blood came out of his mouth. Then the Ga-nich clasped his two top hands together and clubbed Gohan to ground hard. Gohan hit, bounced out of the crater formed by his impact and fell again. He lay on the ground trying to fight passing out but not having much as his head spun and his ribs cried out in agony at the pain of having several of them broken.  
  
The Ga-nich for his part, had paused as he looked down at Gohan trying to decide if he needed to continue the attack when a voice came from behind him. "Surprise!" The Ga-nich spun around to see Vegeta standing there with a grin on his face. Vegeta took a short jab with his left hand into the Ga-nich's face and then dropped a couple feet to get a free shot at the mid-section. With a yell, he launched his right fist, glowing with the energy Vegeta collected for the attack, straight into the gut of the Ga-nich. Only the second time of the fight the Ga-nich made a sound, and that was a scream of pain from the force of Vegeta's blow. Vegeta kicked the Ga-nich to the ground and then gathered himself for one more attack. With a scream of pure anger he focused a powerful blast than threw the Ga-nich more than 100 feet into the air. As the Ga-nich started to fall back down, there was a flash and he separated into his 6 individual members again. They all hit the ground and lay there unmoving.   
  
Vegeta also dropped to the ground, having spent almost all of his energy in that last attack. But he managed to walk over to where Gohan was lying on the ground, still moaning in pain with every breath he took. Vegeta slumped to the ground next to Gohan and started to reach into belt for one of the Senzu beans he was carrying when a small floating ball dropped down next to him. "Medical help is on the way warrior. And congratulations on defeating your second opponent." Vegeta then just slumped back and waited for the others to arrive.   
  
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Once a flyer arrived with a stretcher, Vegeta was able to stand up and walk over. A medical tech ran a scanner over Gohan, "He has several broken ribs, a fair amount of internal bruising, and some bleeding, but he is not too bad off. Good thing you have a day off tomorrow, he is going to need it to even get back on his feet."  
  
Vegeta shook his head, "Take us back to our ship, there is a regeneration tank there that can completely heal him by tomorrow morning." The tech nodded and they got Gohan loaded on the flyer and headed off. Once they arrived at the ship, they followed Vegeta's directions and got Gohan put in one of the tanks and started it up. After that, Vegeta dismissed the techs and sat down outside the tank to rest while Gohan healed.  
  
Vegeta dozed off and the next thing he knew, he heard somebody call his name. He managed to force his eyes open and saw Lord Ventard standing there along with a couple of his advisors.  
  
"Ah, Prince Vegeta. I just wanted to come by and personally congratulate you on the victory." Ventard moved over to look into the tank Gohan was floating in. "The little one has amazing stamina, he took a terrible beating but was not willing to give up until he could do no more. I was most impressed. I trust he will be okay?"  
  
Vegeta groaned and stood up to check the readings on the side of the tank. "He looks like he is doing fine. He should be out of there sometime in the morning and be ready to go soon after that. Meanwhile, send us supper in an hour and breakfast at the normal time in the morning."  
  
Lord Ventard nodded and spoke to one of the others that had come in with him, "See to it."  
  
"Yes, my lord." He turned to Vegeta, "Food for just you sir?"  
  
"No, both of us. Gohan needs to eat as well, it will help the healing process."  
  
"Very good sir."  
  
Then Lord Ventard stepped up again. "We will let you rest, you have earned it after today's fight. Again, well done on the honorable battle." And then they turned and walked out. 


	12. Round 3: Interlude and Authors Notes

Just after supper was delivered to the ship, Vegeta pulled Gohan out of the regen tank so he could eat. As they ate, they talked a couple things over. "You need about 2 or 3 more hours healing to be back to full. Then once you are done, I need about an hour or so in the tank myself. But you did well holding off on transforming to Super Sayian there. I am not sure I would have put up with being beaten on that long."  
  
Gohan shuddered in memory. "It wasn't much fun for sure. And I was almost ready to end it myself. If you had not gotten up when you did, I would have gone super and given out some bruises myself."  
  
Vegeta grinned at Gohan's words. "We still have 2 fights to go through. But something tells me the worst of it is behind us. So finish eating and back into the tank. We need to be back in our rooms for the start of the fights tomorrow or we will be disqualified."  
  
"I am still not sure why they are keeping us locked in our rooms while the other teams are fighting."  
  
"It's to give everybody the same chance in each fight. We don't know what our opponent's abilities are and they don't know what we can do. Also we are not being told who is winning the other fights so we can't try and judge a team's strength by whom they have beaten. That way each team will give it their best each and every fight."  
  
"Okay, I guess that makes sense. I am done here, going back to the tank now."  
Gohan walked off leaving Vegeta alone to finish the meal. After he ate, his head slumped down and he was soon asleep on the table.   
  
"Vegeta, wake up." Gohan shook Vegeta's shoulder. "It's your turn in the tank now."  
  
Vegeta groaned sleepily and with Gohan leading, managed to stumble to the med bay and get into the tank. Gohan started it up and walked back to the remaining pile of food. "Well, there is not much here, so I might as well finish it off." After doing so, he went to his bed and laid down to get some sleep.  
  
The next morning a knock on his room door woke him up. "Sir, we have brought breakfast as requested." Gohan yawned and followed the local out to the main table where a huge pile of food was sitting. But before sitting down to eat he looked around for Vegeta, only to find him still asleep in the regen tank. Gohan opened the door to the tank and leaned in. "Vegeta, food's here. Come eat before I finish it all."  
  
"You better not eat it all, baka. Or you will be spending more time in the regen tank here."  
  
Gohan grinned and walked out.   
  
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After they had made it back to their rooms in the palace they spent the day doing a little light sparing and watching some of the other entertain channels to pass the time. But time passed quickly enough and soon the day was almost over.  
  
"Tomorrow, we get to fight the lizards. 'The Brothers Itrick.' I don't expect they will give us much trouble, and since we have the early fight we should be able to get this out of the way pretty quickly. I hate to say this, but even I am almost ready to just get home."  
  
Gohan smiled. "Why? Do you miss Bulma or something like that?"  
  
Vegeta just scowled. "I don't want that woman raising my son like some weakling human. He is a Sayian prince and needs to be trained as such."  
  
"I don't know about that Vegeta, there aren't a lot of Sayians left around for him to be a ruler too."  
  
"Don't remind me. But I still wonder if any more of my people might have survived."  
  
"Why do you think that?"  
  
Vegeta looked at Gohan for a moment as if deciding whether to answer him. "We almost always had several scouting and attack teams out. It is possible they went to ground when they heard Frezia destroyed our home and are waiting for the right time to come back."  
  
"How will they know when it is the right time, they should have heard about the end of Frezia by now, don't you think?"  
  
"Yes, but remember, because we worked for Frezia all those years we are not well liked. They may just be waiting for a Sayian leader to step up and give them a cause to join again. That is the other reason we are here at this tournament. When we win, our names will be spread across the galaxy and then if any other Sayians are out there, they will hear about me, and come looking to rejoin with me."  
  
"Are you sure you want that? After all, you have joined with us on Earth, these other Sayians might not agree with that."  
  
"Bah, they are Sayians and I am their prince. They will obey me." Then Vegeta turned away and walked to the window. Then he spoke to himself almost too quietly for Gohan to hear it. "And maybe we can undo some of the evil my people have caused in the past."  
  
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Authors Notes:  
  
Sorry about the short chapter but I wanted to put this little bit in to just make the story a little more complete. And it provides a nice lead in for a possible story for me to write later on. Are there any Sayains left? And will they come to find Vegeta after this?  
  
  
I also wanted to respond to a few comments in the reviews I have been getting. Mostly about power levels of my various characters.  
  
First for the strength of the rest of the characters. Yes, some of them are stronger than Freiza. But this is a full 5 years after his defeat at Namek and 4 year after his death at the hands of future Trunks. I have seen a couple web sites where Freiza's power is listed at about 16 million. But even that power was not known by anybody in the galaxy. All that was known was Freiza had never lost a fight. So I suspect that various planets and civilizations that were interested in their own survival were training their best fighters to defend themselves. But since nobody really knew how strong Freiza was, they would have not known when or if they got stronger than Freiza. So they stayed home continuing to train so that their power was at its peak if Freiza did come after them. They were not willing to risk their best fighters against Freiza in case they lost the challenge. Then there would be nobody to defend their planets and Freiza already had a bad record of destroying anybody he thought was a threat. Now that Freiza is dead, some of those strong fighters willing to come out and let themselves be known.  
  
  
As for Vegeta and Gohan's strength. This fiction starts about a year after the Cell games. During that time Gohan had almost no training, mostly because he was helping his mother with her pregnancy. So his power and conditioning slipped during that time. As anybody who works out on a regular basis knows, you can train yourself to a point of near physical perfection. As Gohan was during the Cell games. But it is very easy to loose that extreme point if you slack off. So I am guessing Gohan's normal power level dropped to around 23 million where he was a little over 30 million during the Cell games  
  
Now from the start of the fiction until when Gohan and Vegeta take off, about 4 months pass. During this time Chi-Chi only let Gohan train a couple days a week. I had noted that in the story at the time. So Gohan has regained some of his lost strength but he is not back to level he was at the Cell games. He got back to around 26 million at this time.  
  
During the month of travel and trials to enter the tournament, he trained with Vegeta. But the training was in part to sharpen his skills and instincts rather than purely increase his strength. So he managed to get back to the 27 million listed. He has not been able to get back to highest point of physical perfection yet, but is beginning to close on it again.  
  
As for Vegeta, he never stopped training after the Cell games. And after a year and a half he has come close to matching Gohan's base power level during the Cell games. But so far he has not learned the secret of pushing himself to the second stage of the Super Sayian transformation. That is part of why he challenged Gohan in the beginning of the story, to make sure that is was something that could be achieved again.   
  
Also for the purpose of my story, Vegeta is the older more experienced warrior with his body in its physical prime. And since they are playing the Sayian role of prince and his escorting warrior, it only makes sense that the prince would be stronger. Also, it adds another level surprise that if pushed, young 'weak' Gohan has an extra burst of power that makes him truly incredible.  
  
  
And I wanted to say one thing about how I view the Super Sayian transformations. They are power multipliers. Meaning you start with your base power (normal form) and when you under go a transformation you power is multiplied.  
I think it works well to explain the transformations this way. I figure the first stage of Super Sayian increases power by 5 times. So if a Sayian warrior had a power level of 10 million, the first stage of Super Sayian would give him a power level of 50 million. Then Super Sayian 2 will double that power, or 10 times the base power for a power of 100 million.   
  
Of course, you need to take into account for the power used in the transformation process. That will reduce the final power some, but as you get more used to making the transformation, your efficiency in transforming increases, reducing the power drain.  
  
As a last note, I want to thank everybody for their reviews and hope you continue to enjoy the story. 


	13. Round 4: The Brothers Itrick

Vegeta and Gohan flew down to the center of the crater once again, wearing fresh suits of Sayian armor after the last ones had gotten torn up in the previous fight.  
  
The Itrick landed in front of them and bowed in their direction. "We wish you luck in the coming fight Sayians!"  
  
Vegeta frowned and Gohan bowed back, "Luck to you as well."  
  
"A true warrior brings his own luck, so you keep yours, you will need it."  
  
Gohan just shook his head as Vegeta smirked. "They talk too much, let's get this over with, I want to see the second half of that movie we were watching yesterday." They both powered up and stood in a fighting stance waiting for the Itrick to get the action started.   
  
But instead, the Itrick backed into a small circle and raised their power levels as well.   
Vegeta nodded to Gohan and they both jumped forward and attacked the brothers with a flurry of kicks and punches. There were several minutes of wild fast paced melee that even saw team members landing blows on each other as they tried to maneuver for position in the tight space. Finally both sides separated to catch their breath and decide what to do next.   
  
One of the brothers spoke up then, "So Sayians, are you ready to take the pace up a little?" Gohan and Vegeta just grinned at each other. "How about taking the pace up a lot?" Then they launched their next attack, moving at super speeds they dodged in and out of the group of Itrick throwing punches and then ducking away before they could be swung at. After a couple moments of taking this beating, the Itrick launched themselves into the air and powered up a little more forming a spinning ball of fast moving arms, legs and tails.   
  
Both Vegeta and Gohan tried several times to dodge in and get a punch landed but only got a few bruises for their efforts. Finally Vegeta just landed and threw several Ki blasts at the Itrick that exploded right next to them and sent them scattering. Gohan followed up with a good kick that sent one slamming to the ground to be buried in rock. Then Vegeta started chasing another one that had landed near him. The last one flew at Gohan and they started trading blows again at close range. There was a thump and a crash as Vegeta caught up with the one he was chasing and threw him against the crater wall.   
  
The first one pulled himself out of the rubble and flew up to help his friend against Gohan. But Gohan was able to hold on and block all the blows until Vegeta showed up behind the brothers. With a couple quick punches he put both of them back on the ground again. "See, I told you these guys were not going to be that tough." Gohan nodded and watched as the 3 Itrick regrouped back on the ground.   
  
They stood next to each other and started to power up an attack, Gohan and Vegeta set themselves to receive and waited for the blast. It didn't take long, a powerful beam of light reached out and engulfed the Sayians. After it passed, the Sayians were still standing there, with only their clothes singed a little bit. The Brother Itrick gave each other a worried glance but decided not to give up yet, they leapt into the air and started the close range fight again.   
  
After a couple more minutes of trading blows, the Itrick found themselves in a bad position again, mainly on the ground while Gohan and Vegeta still floated above their heads. The Sayians looked at each other and nodded, then they started to gather energy for their beam attacks and let go at the same time aiming for the ground where the Itrick stood. One titanic explosion later Gohan and Vegeta backed up some to see what had happened.   
  
The Itrick were still in the same spots they had started in, more or less. Instead, now they were lying on the ground about 10 feet below where the ground was a minute ago. They stirred and managed to pull themselves to their feet and stumbled together so they could talk. After a minute's conversation, they flew up to stand in front of the Sayians. "Your power is too great for us, so we will forfeit the match and retain what honor we can in just fighting a good battle. We wish you well." At that, they bowed to Gohan and Vegeta, powered down and flew off to where their shuttle waited. Gohan and Vegeta looked at each other in surprise but shrugged it off as the silver sphere came down and announced their victory once again.  
  
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Authors Notes:  
Okay, so this chapter is a little short. But I wanted to get this fight out of the way so I can get the next one written up. I promise things will be a little more exciting next time.  
  
Thanks for all the reviews and keep them coming! 


	14. Round 5: The Quazar Quartet

Gohan and Vegeta stood on the plateau once again for the final fight of the tournament. The afternoon sun was still high in the sky and a warm breeze blew across the crater they stood in. Standing facing them was the Quazar Quartet. Both sides stood calmly as the silver announcement speaker drifted down between them. The heard Lord Vertard's voice come from the speaker as was addressing the crowds watching the fight.   
  
"We are now on the final day and at the final fight for this awesome tournament. Fate has blessed us, not only with some of the best teams in the galaxy competing here, but in making sure the last fight is going to be one of the best seen here. Both teams are undefeated in their previous matches. So this fight will determine our champions!"  
  
They could hear the roar of the crowd for a minute before Ventard's voice cut back in. "To the Sayians and the Quazar Quartet, I wish you a good and honorable battle! Let the contest begin!"   
  
With that the sphere zipped up and out of the way and the two teams looked at each other. Yardra's voice was then heard, "So they are undefeated as well. Looks like we are going to have to take it up a notch boys. Let's show them what we are really made of." With that the Quartet started to power up, with Vegeta and Gohan matching the moves.   
After both sides finished powering up, they took a moment to study each other trying to judge their opponents.   
  
Then at a shout from Yardra, the twins of Trace and Pace jumped forward and zoomed in on the Sayians.  
  
Gohan and Vegeta met them head on and equally traded blows with them for a couple minutes. But both Gohan and Vegeta were stronger and with their physical strength started to push the twins back. At another call from Yardra, the twins broke off and moved back to stand with the others again. Then Coombra started forward. Gohan and Vegeta waited until he was almost in range and then both jumped him and started hitting as fast and hard as they could. Coombra didn't just stand there and take the punishment either, he was a flurry of movement as he went about blocking a numbers of blows and managing to deliver a few himself. Each time he hit either Gohan or Vegeta they would be knocked back a good bit, but recovered quickly and rejoined the fight. After several minutes of this once again the Sayians started to get the upper hand and Coombra backed off.  
  
Yardra smiled, "It's my turn now." With a cry of concentration a bubble of energy started to form around him. Then it started to spin until it was moving so fast it was nothing more than shimmer, but Yardra has also disappeared in the shimmer. Suddenly the bubble shot off into the air and Gohan and Vegeta spun around trying to keep track of it. As they were looking around trying to spot the shimmer from the bubble, a sudden burst of energy fell out of the sky at them, exploding on contact with the ground. But the Sayians had already taken to the air to get out of the way so it didn't even mess with their hair. The separated and started flying around looking to spot the bubble but it continued to elude them while throwing yet more energy attacks. Gohan and Vegeta would either dodge the attacks or slap them away so they wouldn't get hit. They searched around for a couple more minutes, evading the attacks coming at them, when suddenly they stopped.   
  
Facing each other about 200 yards apart, they held out a hand and charged a Ki ball of their own. At the same time they threw the attacks, right at each other. Just as the balls were about to hit both of them let out a yell and their attacks changed direction, to head straight up. There was a sudden explosion that caused everyone to blink their eyes to clear the flash. When they could see again, Yardra was visible, floating in the air covering his eyes from the blast as well. There was a little smoke rolling off his clothes and the ends of his hair looked a little burnt. Yardra opened his eyes and looked down at Vegeta and Gohan, "Very good indeed. I see we are going to have to take you seriously."  
  
Vegeta smiled. "Well, if you want to keep coming at us one at a time, we will be glad to pick you apart that way."  
  
Yardra grinned in response and flew down to land in front of his teammates again. Gohan and Vegeta also landed again and faced the Quartet. Yardra spoke again, "So are you guys all warmed up? Time to get serious." His team nodded and started to power up again, blowing dust and small bits of rock all over the place from the loose energy bouncing around.  
  
Vegeta and Gohan, for their part, looked on and waited for them to finish. After the Quartet finished their power-up, Vegeta spoke up. "I hoped you guys were holding back on us. But we are nicely warmed up now too." With that, Gohan and Vegeta screamed and forced their powers up as well. As the energy danced around them, the Quartet actually looked concerned for a minute and waited for Gohan and Vegeta to finish.  
"Most impressive. I guess going for the direct approach would not be a good thing. That's okay, we have other ways as well."   
  
After a moment of studying each others power levels both sides grinned in anticipation of the up coming fight. Vegeta was still about at just under 30 million in power, with Gohan having caught up a bit after healing from earlier fights, now just under 29 million. As for the Quazar Quartet, Coombra was the strongest by far with a power level of almost 35 million. The twins came in just under 15 million each and Yardra was the weakest at just over 10 million.   
  
Gohan and Vegeta both dropped into a fighting stance and watched for the next move from the Quartet. The four of them spread out a bit and then they all started going through a couple poses. Gohan and Vegeta watched for a moment trying to decide what was going on when Yardra suddenly froze pointing one hand right at Vegeta. With a yell, he waved his other hand and a small wavefront of energy washed out from him. When it hit Vegeta, it rolled over him and Gohan with no apparent harm. Then Vegeta screamed in pain and grabbed his head in his hands. Gohan stared at Vegeta wondering what was going on.  
  
Vegeta for his part was in intense pain, his vision tunneled down so that all he was Yardra standing there pointing at him. Vegeta took a step forward as his only thought was to get his hands on Yardra, no matter what. Then Yardra smiled, and with a quick move jumped up and took off. Vegeta charged in right behind him stretching out his hands to try and grab Yardra. But just before he got his hands on the little guy, Vegeta was hit hard from the side and missed his grab. But because of the pain in his head, he could only pay attention to Yardra and went after him again. But every time he got close, he took another hit that threw him off the chase. There was a dim part of his brain that told him the twins were the ones that kept getting in his way, but nothing else mattered except getting his hands on Yardra.  
  
Yardra proceeded to fly and spin and dive in a good attempt to stay out of Vegeta's way. His Ki's sensing abilities were the best of his group and he knew it would be very painful if Vegeta managed to get his hands on him. But he had trust in his teammates, the twins were very fast. Even though they could hit that hard, their speed and mind lock he had on Vegeta would give them an advantage. He was not sure they could really do much damage to Vegeta because of his extremely high power level, so their job became simple. They were going to keep Vegeta occupied until Coombra had been able to knock out the younger Sayain and could come over to do the heavy hitting they would need.   
  
Over the next several minutes Yardra had several close calls, Vegeta proved to be faster than they were expecting. Yardra was working hard to try and stay away from Vegeta, but he couldn't let his telepathic attack slip or Vegeta would break free and possibly turn on the twins. Since the twins depended on speed, their physical durability was not that good. And Yardra found himself wishing their strength was higher too, they were finding that they had to put a lot of effort into hitting Vegeta hard enough to knock him away from grabbing Yardra. All three started to get worried after several minutes, they were using a lot of power, but Vegeta didn't seem to be too affected by their efforts. Neither of the twins had the strength to land a damaging blow and at the speeds they were moving, they didn't have time to setup for a good attack.  
  
Vegeta was caught up in the needs of the moment. His concentration focused solely on getting his hands on Yardra. His conscious intelligence was blocked and his body was reacting almost on instinct. He couldn't focus any more of his power to try and transform to Super Sayian and break away, he couldn't turn his attention to either of the 2 that were landing blows against his body. However, even in that near mindless state, the long hours of relentless training showed. His instincts were able to detect each attack an instant before they happened and his body would twist or shift to lessen the impact of the blow.   
  
The struggle continued for several more long minutes before an interruption finally came along. There was a sudden incredible burst of energy from the other side of the crater as one of the powers there nearly doubled in flash of rage. A moment later a wave of thunder was followed by a shower of small bits of rocks flying through the air. It was enough of a shock to break Vegeta out of his frozen state of mind for a moment as they all turned back to look at what happened.   
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Gohan, for his part, took off after Vegeta hoping to help him but got pulled up short as he almost ran into the wall of muscle that was standing in front of him. Coombra looked down at him. "While the others are keeping Vegeta busy, I get to play with you for a while." Then he started to laugh, the same laugh that Gohan had heard from Recoome. Gohan fell back with memories of that fight flashing through his mind, but quickly recovered and smiled at Coombra. "What game do you want to play?"  
  
Coombra was surprised, "You're not scared of me?"  
  
"Why should I be? I wasn't scared of Recoome even when he was beating the crap out of me, and since I saw him defeated, I know I can beat you too."  
  
"Okay squirt, let's see what you got." With that the two of them charged and started beating on each other at a furious pace. Gohan held in there for a couple minutes but Coombra was just too strong and finally knocked Gohan to the ground. As Gohan stood there for a second trying to clear the ringing from his head, he heard Coombra laughing again. He looked up to see him wiping away a trickle of blood coming from his mouth. "Hehe, you actually managed to cut me. It has been a while since even that has happened. This is going to be fun after all."  
  
Gohan took a step back and pulled his hands to his side, "Let's see how you like this fun," he said to himself. "Ka…me…ha…me…HA!" Coombra had looked to check on his team mates and only just turned back in time to raise his arms in a defensive posture before the beam hit. When it cleared, Coombra was still standing there, but his clothes had been burnt and ripped.   
  
"Drat," thought Gohan. "I used too much power and he is not even hurt that badly."  
  
Coombra blew out the last little smoking patch on his gloves and thought to himself. "Got to pay more attention, that one would have hurt if he caught me for real." Then he looked down at Gohan, "Nice one kid. I guess my tailor will be a little upset though." Then he smiled, "My turn!" He started throwing balls of energy at Gohan that exploded before they even made contact. Gohan turned and dashed down the side of the hill he was on trying to avoid the attack. But Coombra followed him and kept dropping blasts near him. Then he charged another attack and threw a large blast right in front of where Gohan was running. The blast caught Gohan and threw him almost 100 feet through the air to land in a large pile of boulders standing in the crater.   
  
Coombra landed next to the pile and started to look around. He walked around a couple large rocks peering into corners, "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" He called. Then he spun around at a sound behind him only to see a fist sized rock rolling down the hill. He started to turn back when Gohan came around the side of one of the rocks and planted a double kick right in Combra's stomach. Commbra screamed and doubled over in pain but Gohan didn't stop there. He put his knee up into Coombra's jaw snapping his head back, then threw a punch into the big man's cheek. Gohan dropped to the side and sent a jab into Coombra's lower back before moving around to start pummeling him in the ribcage.   
  
Suddenly a big arm snapped forward and grabbed the front of Gohan's armor. The arm pulled Gohan to the side and smashed him into a nearby rock. He dimly heard Coombra scream "That hurt you damn little cockroach!" Then Coombra, in a furious haze, went on a rock smashing spree, using Gohan as the hammer. After a couple minutes Coombra seemed to come out of his daze and looked at Gohan still clutched in his hand. Gohan's head was hanging and his breathing ragged. He was covered in bruises and small cuts. Coombra dropped him and said, "Sorry kid, I tend to get a little carried away when I get mad. Guess we should end this here."   
  
Gohan for his part was lying face down on the ground but could still see Coombra's boot out of the corner of his eye. He took a deep breath and with a yell pushed himself up and forward to grab Coombra by the leg. With a burst of energy Gohan pulled Coombra off his feet and swung him around a couple times then let go, sending the man flying into a another pile of boulders. He smashed into them hard and was buried in debris. With a groan of effort Gohan pushed himself forward to continue the attack before the big man could get up. But just as Gohan got there a fist came out the rubble and caught Gohan square in the face. He tumbled backwards and cracked his head against another boulder.   
  
Gohan slumped to the ground in a sitting position with his vision fading in and out.  
Coombra pulled himself free of the rock and looked over at Gohan. "Like a cockroach for sure, you just keep coming back. Well, I've got something that will take care of cockroaches like you. Hehehe." And he started walking forward.  
  
Gohan in a haze of pain couldn't see straight, so the hulking shape and the dumb laughter brought back memories of his fight with Recoome. Remembered pain, fear and frustration came roaring back to Gohan. His vision swam for a minute and when he looked up again, he saw Recoome standing over him. Suddenly rage swept through him and as it had happened before, the spike in rage brought an awesome spike in power as well.   
  
Gohan jumped up and lunged forward, with a snap kick he launched Coombra high into the air. Gohan jumped up after him screaming, "I won't let you win Recoome!" Gohan shot past Coombra and stopped his upward fight with a blow to the top of the head, and then his knee came up into Coombra's belly causing him to double over in front of Gohan. A sharp chop of the elbow into the upper back brought a scream of pain and then Gohan raised both hands in the air and landed a double chop that blasted Coombra to the ground. He hit hard enough to be half buried in a 20 foot crater caused by the impact. Then Gohan raised his hands once more and threw his best Ki attack. "Masenko… HA!" The beam of energy went down and exploded on contact. The force of the blast was enough to blow away over half of the starting plateau in the middle of the crater. Then Gohan's arms fell and he started to float to the ground, his rage and energy spent.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
On the other side of the crater, everybody stopped dumb-founded at the size of the explosion Gohan just caused. Yardra was so surprised he lost his concentration and get go of his mental hold on Vegeta. Without thinking, Yardra dashed over to look for his teammate. Vegeta, for his part, suddenly found his mind clear. After a quick review of his memories he looked up and scowled. Then he saw one of the twins, Pace, hovering in the air next to him, also looking in the direction of the explosion. Pace was muttering to himself, "Remind me not to get that kid mad at me."  
  
Vegeta floated a little closer, "Psst, don't get the kid mad at you, okay?" Pace looked up in surprise which changed to shock when he saw who was talking to him. Before he could move Vegeta reached out and landed a sharp, powerful punch to gut that left Pace doubled over in pain. Then Vegeta reached out and put a precise chop to the side of Pace's neck. Pace immediately fell unconscious and slumped to the ground. Trace looked over when he was his brother fall and noticed Vegeta looking at him. Vegeta pointed and smiled. "You're next!" Trace gulped and with a frightened look took off as fast as he could, with Vegeta right on his tail.  
  
Yardra flew over the rubble looking when he spotted Coombra. Coombra was working on a warrior's instinct and trying to get to his feet. As soon as he rolled over and started to stand, he fell back to the ground with a scream of pain and clutched at his knee. Yardra flew down and landed next to him. "I'm here big guy, hang on." He reached down and held his hands over Coombra's knee and closed his eyes in concentration.  
  
"Is he going to be okay?" Yardra looked up and saw Gohan standing on a nearby rock. Or at least trying to stand, he was leaning back and forth in an effort to keep his balance.   
  
Yardra nodded. "His knee is dislocated, but otherwise he doesn't seem to be too bad off."   
  
Gohan sighed and slumped down. He ended up in a sitting position leaning against another rock with his eyes closed and breathing ragged. Yardra turned back to Coombra, "This is going to hurt." Coombra nodded and sucked in his breath. Yardra reached down, grabbed his leg and with a quick pull and twist popped his knee back into place. Coombra screamed again and then panted trying to catch his breath. Yardra reached up and put his hand on Coombra's head and closed his eyes in concentration again. After a minute he sat back, "I just gave you a telepathic block against the pain, that should help." Coombra nodded, his breathing easier.   
  
Just then they heard another boom from the other side of the crater. Yardra looked up to see Vegeta holding an unconscious Trace. Vegeta let him drop to the ground and then turned and started in their direction. Yardra shook Coombra's shoulder, "I'm going to need your help with Vegeta."   
  
Coombra nodded. "I will try, but it won't be easy. The leg is pretty much useless and the kid took a lot out of me."  
  
Yardra glanced back over at Gohan, who was still slumped there with his eyes closed. "I think he is out of it, and I still have a few tricks."  
  
Coombra smiled and forced himself up so that he was able to fly and get above the wreckage. Yardra floated up and joined him. Vegeta paused a moment then grinned at Yardra, "Nobody to protect you this time. I hope you like pain." Yardra smiled and then floated over behind Coombra. Suddenly he let out a shout and another wave of energy washed over Vegeta. With a scowl, he launched himself at Coombra and swung at him, but his fist went right through that image. In return Coombra landed a good hit on the side of Vegeta's head.   
  
After recovering, Vegeta looked around but still could only see Coombra so he threw a Ki ball at him. The attack went through the image again and Vegeta growled. They went through this for a couple minutes with Vegeta trying to hit Coombra but not having any luck and getting hit a few times in return. Vegeta was getting furious and trying to think of way of getting some results. With a yell, Vegeta let go with a wave of energy to one side where the image of Coombra was. It washed past the image and caught the real Coombra. Vegeta focused on that spot and jumped forward, only to hit nothing again.  
  
Meanwhile Yardra was floating around trying to stay out of Vegeta's way while he kept illusion going so that Coombra could beat up on Vegeta without getting too hurt. He was suddenly surprised by a pair of hands that grabbed him and locked his arms above his head a Full Nelson type hold. "Who?"  
  
"I never said I was out of it, you just assumed. Bad mistake." Gohan then let himself just drop pulling a surprised Yardra down with him. At the last second Gohan flipped them over and used Yardra as a cushion for his landing. Yardra was momentarily stunned by the impact and Gohan used the chance to land a good blow against the side of his head, knocking him out.  
  
Vegeta smiled once again as he looked over at Coombra, "Okay big guy, just you and me now, let's see what you can do." Coombra scowled and leapt at Vegeta who also charged forward. It only took a couple minutes for Vegeta to finish off the weakened Coombra.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
As Vegeta floated over to where Gohan was sitting, he let Coombra drop to the ground next to Yardra. "How you doing brat?"  
  
Gohan looked up and smiled. "Fine. I am pretty worn out, but not too beat up. I just need some food and rest and should be okay by morning."  
  
Vegeta sat down next to him, trying to suppress a groan in pain from the bruises and cuts he had from his mindless chase of Yardra during the battle. "They should have beaten us. That little guy and his mind tricks gave them a great edge in the fight. But fortunately we had a few surprises of our own."  
  
Then they sat back and watched the shuttles fly in to pick them up and return them to the palace.  
=========================================================  
  
Author's Notes:  
Don't worry folks! This story is not over yet! Just be patient. I am trying to write whenever I get a chance, and trying to work through a couple ideas on how to end this. But I guess the toughest critic of my writing is myself, and I won't post until I feel I have it right.   
  
Stay tuned! And thanks for the reviews and thoughts I have received from everybody! 


	15. The Awards are Given

Authors Notes: Okay, I admit it. It has far too long since I updated. But had myself a nice little case of writers block going on. However I think I have gotten over it and will try to finish things up before I go into my next slump.   
  
Thanks for being patient. Now back to the story.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
A new day had dawned on Ceti Thersus, it was a bright cheerful day while the many people in the crowds talking excitedly about the fights of the past few days. They were busy describing the action to each other and some of the more foolish were boasting as to how they would have been able to do better. However, most people were awed by the abilities and powers that they had seen, and were looking forward to the awards ceremony later that day. After the awards were given out, the warrior teams were going to be allowed to leave the palace and walk among the crowds. Many of the people were busy preparing small tokens to give away, either in commemoration of the event or as gifts to the proud warrior teams that had graced their planet.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
At the palace a banquet was being held in honor of the tournament with Lord Ventard hosting all five teams. The Ga-nich were mostly silent as usual for them, but the other four teams chatted freely and compared stories of the fights. Even Vegeta was almost amiable and talking with the others. As the banquet was about to get started Coombra stood up. "This was a great adventure for all of us. We learned many new lessons in our fights with each other and all of us gained great experience. But I am not the type to walk away from anything without being called the best at something. So I am going to present one more challenge to anybody that wants to take it up."  
  
Trace leaned over to Pace and said, "He has my vote for loudest mouth, what more could he want?"  
  
Coombra glared at the twins as chuckles ran around the table. "To finish what I was saying, I challenge anybody here to an eating contest. That is if you think you can out eat a man my size."  
  
Gohan and Vegeta traded a completely evil smirk with each other and Gohan spoke up. "We can't pass up a good challenge like that. Both of us are in your little eating contest."  
  
The Brothers Itrick also decided to join the contest, being pretty sure their lizard like physiology would allow their stomachs to expand enough to let them win.   
  
Lord Ventard had a huge smile on his face and signaled to one of the nearby servants. "Let the cooks know we will need lots more food out here, and quickly." Then he turned back to the table and spoke again. "While the cooks get more food out here I want to say one thing. My people have been truly honored by the presence of all of you and enjoyed one of the greatest fighting events of all time." He picked up a glass of wine on the table and held it in a toast. "To the honor of a warrior, may his strength never fail him."  
  
All the others raised their glasses in the toast and then turned their heads as the cooks started bringing the food in. Once the first course was set on the table all the eyes turned back to Lord Ventard. He smiled again and held up his hand. "Let the Great Ceti Thersus Eating contest begin!" And dropped his hand to let the others begin eating.   
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
About 2 hours later the main doors to the banquet hall opened and both the Ga-nich and the Feathered Follies walked out. They moved with a pace that told people they were trying to get far away as fast as possible without looking like they were trying to run. It was hard to make out any expression on their faces but shock would be been a good guess from the glazed look in the eyes.   
  
The Brothers Itrick waddled out next with their stomachs bulging out in front of them. They too had shocked looks on their faces. One turned to the others, "I guess we know where those teams get all their power from now. And I am not sure I want that much power if eating like that is part of the deal." The other two nodded and the 3 went back to their room to try and rest before the final ceremony.   
  
Then Gohan and Vegeta walked out. Gohan had a content expression on his face while Vegeta was glaring at him out of the corner of his eye. Gohan looked up at Vegeta and smiled, "Hey, what can I say? There was something about those crispy casserole balls. They just went down easy, and tasted pretty good too. You should have tried them."  
Vegeta just grunted and lead the way down the hall as Gohan continued to talk. "But I heard from the cook they are the local equivalent of Chinese food. You can eat a lot of it but 2 hours later you are hungry again. Should we stop and grab a snack for later?" Gohan's voice continued to ramble on as they walked down the hall.  
  
Once Gohan's voice faded the sound of soft crying could be heard from the room. Still sitting at the table was the Quazar Quartet. Trace and Pace were sitting there with stunned looks still on their faces while Yardra was standing next to Coombra with a worried look on his face. Coombra was face down in his plate of food sobbing, his arms were draped over his head almost like he was trying to hide. You could just hear his mumbles, "That damn kid. First I nearly loose a fight to him, then he eats me under the table. How can such a little kid be so mean to me? What did I do to deserve it?" Then he looked up with a worried look on his face. "You guys can't let this get out, if anybody finds I out I lost an eating contest to a kid I will be the laughing stock of the whole quadrant." Then he put his head back down. "I just want to forget today ever happened."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
That afternoon a parade was held in honor of the 5 competing teams. The parade led through several city streets where large crowds of happily waving and cheering fans were gathered. Each team had an open topped hover car they rode in that allowed them to be seen and wave to crowds. Most of the warriors were enjoying the attention, even the Ga-nich seemed to open up a little and were waving from time to time. The only exception was Vegeta. He was quietly grumbling to himself about this being a waste of time. He was sitting stiff in his chair, back straight, arms folded and just looked ahead. Gohan made a couple comments about how Vegeta was a prince and should be used to people cheering from him.  
  
Vegeta scowled at Gohan. "I guess I have just gotten too used to solitude I get in space and on Earth. I just don't like large crowds that much anymore."  
  
"Well, it is almost over. Once we get past this street we are going directly to the stadium and then the final ceremonies. What do you think the prize will be?"  
  
Vegeta shrugged. "I don't think it matters. We have seen the best the galaxy has to offer and none of them can truly compete with us. I am almost wishing we had not held back our powers. Then everybody would have truly known the power of the Sayian people."  
  
The hover cars finally cleared the crowds and picked up speed to head over to the stadium. When they landed they noticed the strange fact that the stadium was mostly empty. Gohan and Vegeta exchanged a look that said, "Keep on your toes." And they could tell that a couple of the other groups had noticed the same thing and were also a little worried about it.   
  
But before any of them had a chance to an advisor came up and asked them to all follow him to the main floor. They were led to the same open area they had been in during the opening ceremonies. The stands were empty except for a dozen guards that were spaced around. In his same alcove as before sat Lord Ventard and he rose as the teams made their way into the stadium.   
  
"People of Ceti Thersus, I give you the 5 fighting teams of our grand tournament." Ventard waved theatrically and the sounds of muted cheering could be heard from the stadium speakers. "These brave and powerful warriors have brought honor and pride to their names and joy to the people of this great planet!"  
  
Lord Ventard went on to introduce the teams one more time and listed the accomplishments they had achieved. Finally he wrapped up his speech. "Loyal people, as the formal ruler of this world I thank all you for your hard work in hosting this tournament. Now it is time for the warriors to receive their prize for their actions! As many of you know, I have kept the secret of my powers hidden, and I would choose to do so again. Once this is over, and the winners wish to share the knowledge they have gained, it will be their choice. So for now I bid all you farewell."  
  
Lord Ventard paused for moment while the cameras were shut down and finally he looked back down at the warriors standing in the area below him. After a moment he smiled and called out. "Originally, I had only planned on sharing this with the winning team, but since all of you have proven to be such powerful warriors, I think the best thing is to give all you the same prize."  
  
He sat back down in his chair and smiled again. He raised his arm and pushed a large button on the arm of his chair. A light hum filled the arena. He then raised his other hand and held his finger over another button. "You shall now learn the truth of my power, as you become part of my power!" Then he pushed the over button on his chair and suddenly 200 gravities slammed down on the warriors in the middle of the arena knocking all them to floor.   
  
Lord Ventard stood up one more time. "My true purpose of this tournament was to find the most powerful warriors in galaxy so that once I add your powers to mine, nobody would be able to stand against me as I spread my rule across the known galaxy. Once the gravity and energy drain I am about to activate reduce you to helplessness, my victory will be complete!"   
  
With those words Lord Ventard pushed one more button and then stood laughing out loud as the energy drain became active. Confident in his victory he raised a glass of wine and called out, "To my reign as Lord of the Galaxy!" 


	16. The Struggle to Survive Begins

Sorry this is taking so long. I am writing and rewriting these next few chapters to get   
things to what I feel is right. I have come this far and don't want to let the quality of the   
work I have done slide, just to finish the story. I have read too many other stories, both   
fan-fiction and published authors that do that, and I hate it.  
  
So here is the next chapter too keep you going. Read, enjoy and review.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Lord Jarod stood on his podium and looked down at the warriors in the arena below him.   
His smile grew as he contemplated the power that he would soon enjoy. And even with   
the small number of warriors before him now they would represent as huge increase in   
his power base. And if things works out right, he could even use some of them to expand   
his powers to beyond this single planet and take his rule to the peoples of the worlds   
around his.  
  
As his finger fell upon the button that activated the trap, he felt no fear. Years of planning   
went into this single moment and he was certain none of the warriors would be able to   
resist, most would not even know what happened. As the gravity slammed down he   
called out, "Your powers will now be mine!" and then activated the energy draining   
crystals. He watched with delight as all the warriors were pulled to the ground with   
surprise as over 200 gravities pulled at their bodies. He could see the straining as several   
of them tried to move under the intense pressures but he knew that time would quickly   
make him the victor.   
  
"Traitor! You attack us with a coward's weapon! Why don't you come down here and   
fight us like a true warrior?"  
  
Jarod's smile grew at the taunt from Vegeta. "Why do I need to fight? I have already   
won!"  
  
"If you won't come to me, I will take this to you." And with those words Vegeta rolled   
over and pushed himself to his feet much to Jarod's surprise.   
  
"How? The gravity there is over 200 times normal. You should not even be able to   
move!"  
  
Vegeta smiled up at him while Gohan climbed to his feet next to Vegeta. "Fool! I train in   
gravity stronger than this on a daily basis." He glanced over at Gohan who was also   
getting to his feet, "You look to the others, I will take care of our host."  
  
Gohan nodded and turned to walk to the nearest group, The Brothers Itrick. He could see   
that Coombra was pulling himself to his feet and the Ga-nich had all managed to roll   
themselves over and were crawling towards the wall, apparently hoping to escape. As he   
stopped by the brothers he could see they were all alive and mostly unharmed but unable   
to move much.   
  
One of them focused on him for a moment and then said slowly, "We will survive for a   
while but stop the gravity, it is too strong for us."   
  
Gohan nodded and moved on to where the Quazar Quartet was. Coombra was moving   
around helping his fellows roll over onto their backs so they were in more comfortable   
positions. "Are you going to be alright?"  
  
Yardra looked up at him. "Yes, the gravity is a bit much for the rest of us but Coombra   
should be able to help you fight."  
  
Gohan smiled, "I don't think Vegeta is going to need or want our help. But let's see if we   
can do something about this gravity." Then he moved over to where the Feathered Follies   
were laying. He noted with worry that they all were laying in odd positions and he could   
see a couple spots were broken bones were poking out of their skin. As he got closer he   
realized he could not feel any energy from them and after a couple minutes determined   
that they were all dead. He went back to Yardra and Coombra to tell them.   
  
Yardra nodded, "They were bird like in nature, so their bones and bodies were lighter to   
make them able to fly. I think they got a lot of their physical strength from the armor they   
wore during the fights. But we need to think of ourselves first. Have you noticed that   
your energy is being drained?"  
  
Gohan nodded and opened his mouth to respond when there was a bright yellow flash   
and an intense spike of energy from Vegeta.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
After Vegeta told Gohan to check on the others he focused his concentration on Lord   
Jarod once again. He let go of the limiting control over his powers and felt his muscles   
swell with the infusion of energy. He spent a moment regarding Jarod trying to get a   
sense of his power level. "Hmm, he is fairly strong, at least 25 million and has some in   
reserve, but how much? Looks like I will get to have some fun after all." Then he took to   
the air with a smooth motion and headed for Lord Jarod to begin the battle, but his   
advance was stopped short by some invisible barrier. He recovered his concentration   
before falling back to the ground and put his hand up to see what had stopped him.   
  
Jarod smiled when Vegeta crashed into the shield. "As you can see I was prepared. I   
thought maybe a couple of you would be able to move around in that gravity, so I added a   
shield that will keep you trapped in there until the energy drain makes you too weak to   
try and escape."  
  
Vegeta did not bother to answer with words. Instead, he focused his power and a blue-  
white aura of power appeared around him. Then he moved back into contact with the   
shield and began to push. He could see out of the corners of his eyes that wisps of energy   
were streaming from his aura and flowing in the red crystals that were surrounding the   
arena, but that meant little to him. His focus was on breaking through the shield and he   
kept pumping up his power until he was at his maximum for his normal form. He could   
feel the shield giving a little, but he also noticed that every time he increased power the   
shield would give a little and then stiffen as it responded to his power increase.  
  
Vegeta decided it was time to change tactics a little and dropped back to the ground   
breathing heavily. Then he straightened up and brought both his hands up in front of him.   
A moment later a bright ball of energy appeared in his hands and then was launched   
towards the shield. There was a tremendous explosion but Vegeta was able to tell the   
blast had not broken through the shield. He decided it was time to pull out all the stops   
and focused his power internally to begin his transformation. A moment later he felt the   
familiar surge as his body responded to his will and accepted the new demands and   
adapted to control the power.   
  
As the dust around Vegeta kicked up into a swirl, his eyes and hair changed color and   
then with a burst his powers were augmented by the Super-Sayian transformation. A   
golden flash of light announced that Vegeta was ready to fight again and he quickly   
launched himself at the shield. Focusing power in his fist he charged the shield like a ram   
intent on smashing his way through before it could adapt to his new power.   
  
Like a golden lightning bolt, Vegeta easily smashed his way through the shield and then   
pulled himself to a stop over 100 above the floor of the arena. At that height he was free   
of the effects of the gravity below and his muscles relaxed. He smiled down at Lord   
Jarod, "I am disappointed, I hope that won't be my biggest challenge for the day."  
  
Jarod frowned for a moment then shrugged. "Very well. It seems I will have to get my   
hands dirty after all. Just as well, I haven't had a good fight in several years now. I could   
be getting a little rusty." With that he calmly floated up into air to a position across from   
Vegeta and then pulled off his cloak and tunic leaving his upper body bare. Vegeta lazily   
noted the general muscle tone and several scars that were displayed now. The center of   
his chest displayed an unusual 'Y' shaped scar but otherwise he looked to be in good   
shape. Jarod then began his power-up and watched Vegeta for any reaction as his power   
started to climb rapidly.   
  
Vegeta's Ki sensing skills had continued to improve over the years and he watched Jarod   
closely to see if he could find a weakness in the warrior. He was curious about how Jarod   
powered up, unlike most other fighters where their power increased in the whole body at   
once, Jarod's power seemed to start at a point in the center of his chest and flow outwards   
to fill his whole body. And once the power had filled Jarod's whole body, it did not   
increase any more, so Vegeta was able to estimate the power level at somewhere around   
100 million.  
  
Once Jarod was finished, Vegeta smiled. "Not bad for a old man. But let me show you   
what a warrior in the prime of his life can do." With that Vegeta leaned his head back and   
with a shout brought out his true power. His muscles started to bulge as power started to   
swell in them. A globe of golden fire formed around Vegeta and started to swirl rapidly   
as Vegeta's power climbed. Jarod's face momentarily lost its calm resolve as the speaker   
in Jarod's ear was announcing the scanner readings of Vegeta's power. But after a   
moment his confidence returned and once Vegeta finished his power-up Jarod was almost   
ecstatic. The scanners in the arena below him determined that Vegeta's power level was a   
little over 150 million now and Jarod could not believe his luck. "Vegeta, you surprise   
me, I did not expect you be quite this strong. You will make an excellent addition to my   
power supply."  
  
Vegeta frowned for a moment at the confidence Lord Jarod was showing, but then he   
decided the poor fool just did not know what he was getting himself into. He allowed a   
smirk to grace his lips, "You cannot win, but let's fight. At least you can die with honor."   
Then the two of them launched themselves at each other and the battle was joined.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Yardra and Coombra were watching Vegeta in surprise as his power level dramatically   
increased twice. Gohan smiled at the stunned looks on their faces as he bent over to make   
sure that the twins of Trace and Pace were not in any danger. Yardra started to ask where   
all of Vegeta's power was coming from when Gohan cut him short. "We need to worry   
about ourselves first. You have any ideas for getting out of here?"  
  
Yardra pulled his attention back to Gohan, "Well, first let's see if we can do something   
about the power drain, that will weaken us the quickest. Those crystals around the arena   
look like the same thing in that room for the test of power, so they must the source of the   
power drain."  
  
Gohan nodded, "Well, I don't think we can blast them. It was tried before, so I guess we   
will have to break them out."  
  
Coombra grinned, "Leave that to me." And he jumped up into the air and floated over to   
where one of the crystals were but as he got close he found his power was being drained   
faster and could not keep himself in the air to make the attack. He dropped to the ground   
under the crystal and almost passed out, but was able to keep himself going and backed   
away. Once he got some distance the drain lessened a little and he was able to catch his   
breath. He moved back over to where the others were and told them what happened.   
  
Meanwhile the fight overhead had gotten started and the fighters still on the ground were   
both impressed and scared by the power being displayed by the 2 warriors. All except for   
Gohan, his mind was focused on the task of getting them out of trouble. He had a thought   
and decided to try it out. He lowered his Ki as far as he go without letting the strength   
fade from his muscles to keep him moving in this intense gravity. Then with a careful   
stride he started to walk over to under one of the crystals. He got to directly under the   
crystal and then realized there was no way of him being able to reach it without standing   
on something or flying. But with his Ki suspressed, he was not suffering as badly from   
the energy drain that Coombra had been. "Maybe it will be enough." He thought, "Only   
one way to know for sure." With that, he pushed some extra Ki into his legs and jumped   
into the air to try and reach the crystal. But he didn't provide enough power and came up   
short. He was able to tell that he didn't want to try any harder because the crystal would   
just drain more of his power and he knew even he only had so much to work with.  
  
So he took a look around the arena to see if could find something to stand on, but except   
for the people lying around, the arena was bare. But when his eyes fell on Coombra he   
got an idea and started to walk back. He had not noticed the Yardra had been watching   
him the whole time and figured it out as well. By the time Gohan got back Yardra had   
explained the whole time to Coombra and the big guy was ready to try. After a moment   
of discussion to see if they really were thinking of the same thing the two of them walked   
back over to a crystal and put their plan in action.  
  
Coombra braced himself against the wall and then lowered his Ki as low as he could   
safely take it. Then Gohan began his part, he started to climb the 7 foot tall human   
mountain. Working slowly in the heavy gravity he climbed until his feet were resting on   
Coombra's shoulders. The red sphere of crystal was now just above his head and Gohan   
was working out how to hit it hard enough when he heard Coombra grunt, "Wait a   
minute." Gohan looked down to see Coombra lift his arms and put his hands under   
Gohan's feet. Then displaying great strength he pushed Gohan straight up until the crystal   
was even with Gohan's shoulders.  
  
Gohan smiled, "Perfect!" Then he focused his strength and threw a punch at the crystal,   
but he was unable to damage it. He tried a couple more times but still was unsuccessful.   
And with the close proximity of the crystal and every time he touched it, he could feel his   
power being drained further. He glanced down at Coombra who was focused on holding   
Gohan up there with a lot of strain showing on his face. "One more try, hang in there."   
Coombra nodded but did not say anything.  
  
Gohan looked at the crystal once again and prepared for one last punch. Gohan pulled his   
arm back and then with a sharp momentary surge of power he flooded his arm and fist   
with Ki and punched as hard and fast as he could. "Haiii!"   
  
The force of the punch was enough to knock Gohan clean off Coombra's hands and even   
tipped the big guy over. They both landed harshly but the blow finally had its intended   
affect. The crystal shattered under the impact and threw little pieces all over the place.   
The remaining pieces fell out of the setting that had held it in place and they could see   
some type of power lead that had been plugged into the back to the crystal. Yardra and   
the others had also noticed that when the crystal had been destroyed, the gravity pulling   
them down had been lessened. They shouted encouragement to Gohan and Coombra   
letting them know they had figured it out.  
  
Meanwhile the two of them had pulled themselves back to their feet and headed for the   
next crystal. Gohan walked behind Coombra and was flexing and shaking his arm. The   
crystal had drained most of the Ki on impact and Gohan had to spend a moment fighting   
the cold lifeless feeling his arm had. Once Coombra was in position again Gohan climbed   
back up and was pushed into a position to strike once again. This time Gohan didn't   
waste any time but struck full strength right into the crystal. Again the force knocked him   
off Coombra's support and he landed heavily on the ground.   
  
Coombra turned around to see Gohan pulling himself to his feet but his right arm was   
hanging limply. "Are you alright kid?"  
  
Gohan nodded, "Yea, just landed a little hard and my arm is numb, it is fine." Then he   
managed to flex it to show Coombra it was working fine. "Let's keep going. I don't think   
we have much time." Then he nodded to the other side of the arena. Coombra turned to   
look and saw the Ga-Nich. They were apparently trying to do their fusion trick, but too   
much of their energy was getting sucked away and they collapsed to the ground unable to   
move.  
  
So Gohan and Coombra moved on. By the time they had made it halfway around the   
arena they had worked it out to a pattern, Gohan wasn't even loosing his balance any   
more. So he stood there on Coombra's shoulders while he moved to the next crystal.   
However each hit had continued to drain power from Gohan and he was getting worried   
if he was going to have the power to finish the rest off.  
  
Coombra grunted to himself, "Six down, six to go. Hang in there kid." He had also felt   
the drain of power from Gohan through each contact and was trying to help out as he   
could by letting some his power flow back into Gohan while they were moving to the   
next crystal but his energy reserves were already getting low. The only positive thing so   
far was with each crystal destroyed the energy drain was slowing a little and the gravity   
was decreasing.  
  
About then The Brothers Itrick made their own move, they headed for another one of the   
crystals and built a pyramid so that they could take out a couple crystals on their own.   
But luck was against them, just as they were ready to make their attack a number of   
guards ran out into the upper tiers of the stadium and opened fire on the fighters below.   
The Itrick on top was hit by a blast unexpectedly and lost his balance. He leaned forward   
and put his hands out to stop his fall. But his hands landed on the surface of the crystal   
and a steady, solid contact was all the crystal needed to drain most of the power the   
Brothers had. It didn't take but a few seconds for the Brothers to loose consciousness and   
fall to the ground. At least that broke the contact with the crystal so that they didn't end   
up getting the last of their life's energy drained away.   
  
As soon as the Brothers fell, the guards shifted their fire towards the other threat, Gohan   
and Coombra. As soon as the shots started to fall near them, help arrived. The other   
members of the Quazar Quartet jumped into the action. Yardra summoned some of his   
considerable mental talents and blurred the area around Gohan and Coombra to make   
harder targets to hit. The twins of Trace and Pace took a more direct approach, they first   
tried to attack the guards directly but discovered the force field was still in place. So they   
moved into the target area and took it upon themselves to block or deflect as many of the   
incoming blasts as they could.   
  
Gohan and Coombra had hesitated for a moment trying to decide if they should help to   
take out the guards somehow, when a voice stopped them. "Hurry, we can't keep this for   
long." Coombra nodded, not sure which twin had even spoken but with a powerful leap   
landed himself and Gohan in front of the next crystal. Gohan felt a surge of energy as his   
adrenalin responded to the increased needs of the moment and he quickly struck out   
smashing the next crystal.  
  
Before the pieces had even stopped falling, Coombra was moving to the next crystal and   
they covered the ground around the rest of the arena quickly. Finally there was only one   
crystal left, the largest one that was entered over the alcove where Lord Jarod had sat. It   
was out of reach for them from the ground and they took a moment to consider their   
options. Gohan closed his eyes and took a calming breath and reached for the last of his   
deep power reserves. "Coombra, on my signal throw me directly at the crystal."  
  
Coombra gave Gohan a surprised look but quickly dropped Gohan down some and got a   
better grip on him to make the throw.   
  
Gohan opened his eyes and fixed his gaze on the crystal, "Throw me as hard as you can,   
okay? Ready? Now!"  
  
With a grunt Coombra flung Gohan right at the crystal. As they had hoped the force of   
Coombra's throw was enough to force Gohan through the force field and carry him the   
rest of the way to the crystal. It took less than a half a second for Gohan to cover the   
distance, but it was enough for him to bring out the last of his power and focus it into his   
fist. With a powerful blow, the crystal shattered. Gohan continued his flight a few more   
feet until he ran into the stone wall the crystal had been embedded in.   
  
With a crunch, Gohan came to a stop and then his body dropped out of the impact hole   
and fell to the ground. As soon as the last crystal was broken, the force field, energy drain   
and increased gravity all disappeared and the twins of Trace and Pace found enough   
energy to go after the guards. Their speed enabled them to avoid the shots coming at   
them and quickly disable all the guards shooting at them.  
  
Coombra and Yardra had jumped over the rubble to find Gohan. When Yardra got there   
he found Gohan barely conscious and Coombra trying to stop the blood flowing from   
head wound. Gohan mumbled, "Bean… belt pocket… eat…." Yardra was not certain he   
had heard right but did a quick search anyway. He found a small green bean and looked   
at it for a moment, then with a shrug placed it in Gohan's mouth. Gohan weakly bit down   
a couple times and then with an effort swallowed the bean.   
  
Coombra and Yardra looked on in surprise as the blood stopped flowing from Gohan's   
wounds and the other scrapes and bruises he had healed over. Gohan's face relaxed and   
he opened his eyes. "Thank you." Then his eyes drifted back closed and Gohan's body   
relaxed into sleep. 


	17. Vegeta vs Lord Jarod

Okay,  
  
It has been a long time now since I updated. Just been busy with lots of other items. I can't promise the next update will be any quicker, but with luck I won't have to keep everybody waiting for long. Until then, enjoy.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
As Vegeta and Jarod launched themselves at each other the air around them crackled with the suppressed power of the two warriors. They spent the first couple minutes exchanging and blocking punches and kicks as they tested each others defenses. So far both warriors stood strong and were evenly matched. As their muscles warmed up and the blood got pumping they both increased their speed to a point where the attacks were a mere blur to an untrained observer. They had also increased their strength to the point that each blow that made contact left a small shockwave of power in the air.   
  
Finally they both fell back a couple paces and assumed a defensive position once again. Another long moment passed while they both considered their strategy, them Lord Jarod leapt forward to continue the attack. Vegeta also charged forward and drew back his fist to land a powerful blow. Jarod saw that move and almost smiled to himself seeing the small but critical opening Vegeta left in his defenses. "Perhaps this won't take too long after all, he is being careless already." Jarod thought to himself and as the two figures closed the distance, he suddenly dropped down under Vegeta's punch and threw a powerful jab into the Sayian's ribcage. But to his great surprise, his punch blurred right through and a moment later Vegeta himself faded.  
  
Jarod stood up and looked around in surprise. He finally spotted Vegeta standing in the air about 15 feet away. His body was relaxed and his arms crossed over his chest. The expression on his face was mostly boredom but there was a hint of amusement in his eyes. "So much for the great warrior, fooled by a mere child's trick."  
  
Jarod didn't bother to respond but threw himself across the short distance and struck out at Vegeta once again, only to have his fist pass through another afterimage. He spun around looking to see where Vegeta went to and flew after him in a rush. Vegeta repeated the trick twice more then when Jarod struck again Vegeta only moved a few feet and threw a punch of his own.  
  
Jarod was waiting for a move like this and caught the sound of Vegeta's fist pushing through the air just before the blow landed on his jaw. Jarod tried turning away from the blow to lessen the impact but was still shocked at the force of the hit. He instinctively kicked out at Vegeta to find the Sayian had already moved again. Jarod spun once more to locate Vegeta and leapt forward once more, this time coming with a forceful roundhouse kick.   
  
Vegeta again changed tactics, this time he blocked the kick with a raised forearm and struck down with his other fist, laying a strong blow right into the belly of his opponent. As Jarod doubled over from the force of the punch Vegeta again backed off and waited a moment for Jarod to recover his balance. As soon as Jarod straightened up and made eye contact, Vegeta decided he was ready to fight some more and went on the offensive. With a blur, Vegeta increased his speed and began a high-speed series of punches against Lord Jarod. Vegeta zoomed around Jarod in a blur and threw punches from every possible direction.  
  
Jarod for his part, found himself momentarily overwhelmed and unable to track Vegeta's movements. He paid the price by receiving several dozen punches to his body in the space of a few seconds. Then there was a pause that gave him a chance to look up, only to see Vegeta in front and just above him with both arms raised above his head, fists clenched together. Before he could react, Vegeta landed a solid blow on Jarod and sent him smashing to ground with enough force to leave a 30-foot impact crater in the ground.  
  
A minute later there was a flash of light as Lord Jarod recovered and blew the debris off him that had settled after his impact. He floated back up into the air near Vegeta and gave the warrior a small smile. "Very good, your power and skill is truly impressive. And I concede that you actually seem to be stronger than me, but your power will not last forever and I will still be the victor of this little match."  
  
Vegeta shook his head with a grin. "I assume I must have knocked something loose in that head of yours. Do you want me to knock you around some more until you come to your senses?"  
  
"Confidence is good for a warrior, arrogance is usually fatal." Jarod responded as he launched another attack, this time pumping energy into his speed until landscape itself blurred past his own vision. Vegeta quickly lost site of Jarod as his speed increased but did not let it worry him, he relaxed and stretched out with his Ki and quickly detected the approach of Jarod and calmly dodged out of the way of his attack. Jarod turned and continued to throw punches and kicks at Vegeta but was not able to make contact with elusive warrior. After a couple minutes of growing frustration for Jarod he suddenly jumped back and started throwing series of Ki attacks at Vegeta. The balls of energy were a special attack of his that did not need to make contact, but would explode if they just got close enough.   
  
Vegeta was caught by surprise by the first couple of explosions but quickly formed his Ki into a shield to protect himself from the rest of the attacks. He waited for minute while the attacks continued but when it appeared that Jarod didn't have any interest in stopping, he decided to end the attack for him. Vegeta tapped deeper into his power supply and with a scream, threw a wall of Ki out that whipped across the sky. The Ki detonated all the attacks from Jarod and slammed into him disrupting his concentration. He dropped his attack posture and moved to get out of the way of the next attack he felt for sure was coming.   
  
A bright ball of energy raced from the cloud of smoke still surrounding Vegeta and missed Jarod by less than a foot. Just as he was about to turn his attention back to Vegeta he noticed out of the corner of his eye another flash of light. He dodged to the side and barely avoided getting hit by a second Ki ball. And as he was dodging, he noticed the first attack had curved around and was zooming back at him. Jarod muttered a quick curse to himself and took off in an evasive pattern trying to avoid the 2 balls of Ki that were now chasing him all over the sky. As Jarod dove and wove through the clouds he spotted Vegeta hanging in his same place just watching the action at this point. Jarod frowned and changed course to speed last Vegeta. As he went past he called out, "You are going to have to work harder if you want to beat me!"  
  
Vegeta smiled, "If you insist." Then he threw a 3rd Ki attack and jumped into the chase himself. As Jarod suddenly found himself being followed by 3 glowing spheres he dodged again and ran into a wall. Or at least that is what it felt like just happened. Vegeta had cut around in front of Jarod and caught him with a solid blow to the chest. That stunned Jarod long enough for the Ki attacks to close the distance and explode against his back. The force of the explosion blew him up against Vegeta who stood there like a stone pillar.   
  
Vegeta gave Jarod a small shove to get some space between them and put both of his hands out in front of him. With a yell Vegeta concentrated his Ki and shot a powerful beam of energy into Jarod at close range. Jarod was blown to the ground once again and lay there smoking, bruised and bleeding from numerous small cuts, his energy severely depleted. After a moment he opened his eyes and looked back up at Vegeta. Then with a smile on his face, he pulled himself to his feet and floated back up into the air. Then once level with Vegeta again, "Well done. That should leave me a little sore in the morning, but this fight is not over yet." Then with a yell he started to power up again.  
  
Vegeta watched with a stunned expression on his face. Jarod's power level climbed back to the near 100 million it had been at the start of the fight and once the Ki had fully infused his body the cuts that had been bleeding stopped, apparently cauterized from within. They watched each other for a minute while Vegeta debated his next move. "He seems to have incredible endurance, so I am going to have to just wear him out. At least his strength is no match for mine." And with that, the two warriors leapt forward into battle once more.  
  
As they traded blows and threw powerful blasts of energy at each other they bounced around the area where the arena once stood. The other warriors that stood on the ground had been busy just trying to keep themselves from getting hurt with flying debris. Then suddenly in the middle of trading one set of blows with Jarod, Vegeta paused his attack and threw a look over his shoulder like he was expecting to see something there. His pause was long enough to confirm there was nothing visible and allowed Jarod to land a couple hits and knock Vegeta away. Vegeta quickly recovered and after a quick scan around he returned to the attack and continued to beat upon Jarod.   
  
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The fight continued to rage on for some time. Vegeta had repeatedly achieved the upper hand either through strength or speed and sent Lord Jarod on numerous visits to the ground. But each time Jarod pulled himself back up and continued the fight. Much of the surrounding area had been destroyed by the impact of falling bodies or stray Ki blasts and most people had fled the area fearing for their lives. About halfway through the fight, the members of the Quazar Quartet attempted to join the fight but Vegeta called them off. "This is my fight, my warrior's honor demands I handle this myself. If I fail, then you can have your turn."  
  
Again and again, Vegeta stood strong and knocked Jarod to the ground, but each time Jarod picked himself up and came back to fight some more. As the fight dragged on, Vegeta's frustration surged higher and higher. The man before him was impossible, he was quick enough and strong enough to prevent a crippling blow from landing and seemed to be able to recover from almost anything else that Vegeta could throw at him. Eventually Vegeta started to weaken as his power reserves were depleted and exhaustion took its toll.  
  
Finally Vegeta's power had faded enough that he was unable to hold full power and his power level started to slip away from him. On the other hand, Lord Jarod was still fighting the same as he had been the entire fight. Once he saw that Vegeta was wearing out, he added a few verbal spars to his attacks. "Come now, where is that arrogant pride you were so proud to show off not so long ago?"  
  
Vegeta didn't answer but continued to pummel Jarod with kicks and punches in the continuing attempt to wear him down. But the only person that was wearing out was Vegeta. After each series of attacks his breathing was harder and it took longer before he was able to resume his fighting. Finally Lord Jarod decided it was time to turn the tables. "Vegeta, you seem to be wearing out, how about I do the punching for a while?" And he jumped forward to land a series of painful blows against Vegeta's ribs.   
  
Vegeta tried to block the incoming attacks but his reserves were far too low and he could not keep up with the speed Jarod was moving at. But Vegeta was The Prince of All Sayians and would not allow himself to admit defeat so easily. So each time Jarod knocked him to the ground he got up and flew back into the fight. Now it was Jarod's turn to stand in the sky and wait for the return of his opponent. And his smile grew each time as it took longer and longer for Vegeta to climb back to his feet.  
  
Vegeta had risen from the rubble over a dozen times already when he finally stopped and stood on the ground for a minute just looking at Lord Jarod, then allowed a smirk to drift back onto his lips. Jarod watched scornfully as he saw Vegeta smile, "Fool, he doesn't realize he is beaten, I doubt he can even get up here to attack me again." But his words proved to be false and suddenly Vegeta let out a yell of rage and frustration and gathered the last of his power into one more attack. Vegeta launched into the air and landed a series of quick punches that stunned Jarod, and before he could recover Vegeta stuck both his hands out in front of him and yelled out "Gallick Gun!"  
  
A powerful blast of light and energy slammed into Lord Jarod at close range and blew him halfway across the sky. But the effort had been almost too much for Vegeta, the majority of his power expended, his Super-Sayian transformation faded and he was barely able to hold himself in the air. The members of the Quazar Quartet floated up into the air near him and Coombra grabbed ahold of Vegeta to keep him from falling. But before they had a chance to say anything, Yardra's head snapped around and he was barely able to say, "Oh no..." before Lord Jarod retuned.   
  
With the pain from Vegeta's last attack still coursing through his body, Jarod was in a foul mood, so he attacked with all the power and speed at his command. It took him less than a second to land blows on all the Quazar Quartet and send them crashing to the ground below. Before the others had even landed he grabbed Vegeta by the front of tattered battle suit held him out at arm's length. "It is over Vegeta, you don't even have the power now to look me in the eye. The others are no match for me and there is no one on this planet that would come to your rescue." Then Jarod threw several vicious punches into Vegeta's gut that made Vegeta cough up blood.   
  
But just before he dropped Vegeta to the ground, the Sayian prince managed to lift his head up and looked at Jarod in the eyes. He swallowed slowly and finally managed to croak out, "There is one more who will fight you."  
  
Jarod threw his head back in laughter, "What? You can't be serious! Just who is this mysterious warrior? Some friend of yours that you managed to sneak along? It can't be any of those fools below us, most of them can't even move. Besides, it is obvious you were the best of the warriors, and I have beaten you so nobody else would be foolish enough to challenge me."  
  
Vegeta twisted his lips into a smirk once more, "As much as I hate to admit it, I am only the second best warrior here. But I will be glad to introduce you to the best." Vegeta turned his head and called down to the rubble below them. "Are you ready?"  
  
A voice came back up, "I have been waiting for your call. I am ready."  
  
Then a section of rubble that had been piled up early on exploded outward and a figure drifted upwards. Dust and small pieces of debris swirled around the figure as it continued to rise. Once it was level with where Jarod was, a scream came from within the cloud and a sudden golden flash blasted across the sky.  
  
Jarod turned his head away for a moment to avoid the glare and pieces of flying rock to look back and see a glowing figure standing before him. Shock and surprise crossed Jarod's face and he blurted out, "You?!? But how?" 


	18. Gohan gets to Fight

Sorry for the delay in updating. Things have just been way too busy for me lately. Been trying to set myself a schedule to write some every other day, so hopefully the next update will not take as long.  
  
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Lord Jarod hung in the middle of the air, still gripping the front of Vegeta's outfit. The stunned expression on his face giving way to anger, "But how? I saw you fall from the loss of energy. You should not be able to stand, much less fight."  
  
Gohan smiled slightly, "Once the crystals were destroyed I was able to recover my power. You and Vegeta fought so long I was able to take a nap and regain my full strength."  
  
Jarod looked back over at Vegeta who was still hanging limply in his grip, but had that same infuriating smirk on his face. "Never underestimate the abilities of a Saiyan warrior."  
  
Jarod growled deep in his throat and with a powerful swing, threw Vegeta towards the ground and leapt to attack Gohan. Vegeta flew towards the ground at an incredible pace and he tried to brace himself for a very abrupt and painful landing. But at the last minute, Coombra had managed to pull himself back up and jumped in the way to lessen the impact on Vegeta.  
  
Gohan for his part didn't even move at Jarod charged him. His yellow hair swaying softly in the breeze, and his teal eyes fixed on the blur approaching him, he didn't even blink when Jarod smashed into him at full speed. Jarod went into a furious series of punches and kicks that had Gohan's body bouncing all around. The painful assault went on for several moments before Jarod dropped back a little to try and catch his breath. He scowled in frustration at the fact that Gohan was still floating there with his head bowed, but otherwise seemingly uninjured.   
  
Then Gohan lifted his head and looked Jarod in the eyes once again, "Sorry, I am not warmed up yet. This will take a couple more minutes." Then he motioned to Jarod to continue the attack. With a deep breath Jarod blurred into action and once again started pummeling Gohan with a furious series of kicks and punches.  
  
On the ground the Quazar Quartet watched as Gohan took a beating without even making an effort to defend himself. Coombra echoed the thoughts of the others with his soft query, "What is he doing up there?"  
  
His answer came from Vegeta as the prince sat up among the stones littering the ground, "Don't worry about the brat, he can take it." Then the prince took off one of his gloves and felt around just inside the outer edge, finally he pulled a bean from the glove and quickly stuck it in his mouth and chewed. His wounds healed over and then he was able to stand up. He stretched and flexed a few times to make sure everything was in order then sunk back to the ground in a cross legged position and assumed a pose of meditation.   
  
During this time, Gohan seemed to finally come to life. He blocked a punch and then started dodging everything Jarod threw his way. After a moment of that Gohan started to add a few quick little jabs back at Jarod, forcing him to keep his guard up while throwing punches at Gohan. Not that it helped, Gohan pulled an arm back and started a slow punch towards Jarod's face. The warrior raised his arms in a crossed-wrist block and got ready to throw a kick back at Gohan. But Gohan finished his attack with a load yell and a short blur of the fist. A burst of power from the punch blasted through Jarod's block and threw him back in the sky. Before he recovered his wits and balance he became the victim of a long series of punches and kicks from Gohan.  
  
Then Gohan sent Jarod to the ground once more with a powerful kick and paused in the air. He turned around in the air like he was looking for something and finally focused on Jarod again as the older warrior was pulling himself out of the rubble. Jarod sneered at Gohan as he floated back up next to him. "Vegeta claimed you were a better warrior than him, so far I am unimpressed. You have decent power, but your skills are limited."  
  
Gohan shrugged. "I do well enough with what I have." And threw a short blast of energy at Jarod that caught him in the chest and exploded. As the smoke cleared, he smiled. "Besides, I have a few tricks I have not used yet."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Back on the ground the Quazar Quartet watched in amazement. Yardra was the first to speak, "That kid is almost as strong as you, Vegeta. How do you Saiyans get that much power?"  
  
Vegeta smiled slightly as he glanced up at the sky and then closed his eyes again. "Our Saiyan heritage gives us almost unlimited potential. Only a few have ever learned unlock that potential. Right now Gohan is only fighting at around half strength."  
  
Several gasps were response to Vegeta's calm statement. "Half strength? Why? Shouldn't he be giving it all he has? After all, Jarod beat you and you were at this strength."  
  
Vegeta shook his head, "The boy does not have pride to be a true warrior. But he has good instincts, so he is probably fighting Jarod at this level to get a true measure of his opponent's strength. It's one thing to watch a fight, another to be in the fight."  
  
After a moment of silence, Yardra asked another question. "Vegeta, during your part of the fight I saw you look over your shoulder several times like you were expecting to see something off in the distance. I have now seen Gohan do it a couple times as well. Is that maybe some trick Jarod is using?"  
  
Vegeta shook his head. "No. From time to time I thought I felt another power like Jarod's somewhere out there. I thought maybe that is why he was so sure of himself, because there was more than one like him and the others were coming to fight as well."  
  
"I never sensed anything during the fight, so if somebody is out there, they are hiding themselves rather well." Then Yardra closed his eyes and stretched out with his senses. "I can't find anything. Can you tell me what direction to look in? That might help find our mysterious power."  
  
Vegeta reviewed the fight in his head and after a couple minutes he pointed. "That way. Towards the tall tower in the distance."  
  
Yardra focused his energies in that direction and was still not able to come up anything. But during that time, Gohan had glanced around again and looked directly in the direction that they were searching in. After a moment Yardra decided to try something else and floated up into the air and started a large circle around the fight. As he passed between Jarod and the mysterious tower he suddenly felt the surge of power himself, but with his more defined senses he realized there was something different going on.  
  
Yardra landed and spoke quietly. "I don't think it is another fighter, just energy. It might even be the power the arena drained out of us before it was destroyed. Too bad there is no way for us to get that back. We will recover in time ourselves, but that energy would be of use now." The others nodded and turned back to watch the fight going on over their heads.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Gohan and Jarod continued exchanging blows for several more minutes before backing off and catching their breath. Gohan had started his power level off a little below what Jarod was showing and had been working it up as the early stages of the fight progressed. Now he was a little stronger than Jarod and debated his next move. 'Should I go for more power? Vegeta tried that and was not able to completely overpower this guy. Of course, I can take it to the second level, but what if that is not enough?'  
  
  
  
After a moment Gohan decided fight at this power for while to extend his reserves while Vegeta had a chance to recover his strength. 'At least, if I can't take him out, Vegeta will have another chance.' Meanwhile Jarod had started his attacks again and Gohan was dodging without apparent effort or thought. As he continued to mentally debate his strategy, his Sayian instincts and training had taken over and was moving his body around the sky.   
  
Lord Jarod, for his part, realized that Gohan was not paying attention to the fight and decided to make the young warrior pay for his insolence. He changed the pattern of his attacks and slowly starting backing Gohan towards the nearby rubble of a building to try and trap him in place. After several minutes he was ready to spring his trap and after a momentary pause, threw a powerful punch that he intended for Gohan to duck under and get himself caught by debris around them.   
  
But instead of ducking, Gohan raised a forearm and stopped Jarod's punch cold. Jarod felt a moment of surprise when Gohan's eyes snapped back to focus and looked at him. There was no emotion on Gohan's face, not anger, fear, or worry. No sign of pride or joy at his abilities to fight, just simple determination. Gohan was wearing a mask of concentration that the best warriors and athletes used to bring out their best performance.   
  
Normally, Lord Jarod was not a perceptive man. He relied on his strengths and the fear in others to control people. He never sought to understand anyone, to learn their hopes and dreams, fears and nightmares. He thought such knowledge was useless to true leader. It only interfered with a ruler's abilities to use people like the pawns in his game that they were. But this time, for just an instant, as Gohan locked eyes with him, he felt the terrible depths of Gohan's power and for the first time in many years, felt his own sense of fear and felt the touch of death brush against his heart.   
  
Before Jarod could even register the fear that touched his soul, Gohan reached out and grabbed him by the wrist. Then in an almost casual move, Gohan swung around and slammed Jarod down into the rubble he had tried to catch Gohan in. Quickly Gohan lifted the larger warrior out of rubble and slammed him down several more times. Jarod senses were reeling from force of the impacts and before he could recover to defend himself, he found himself in a bone crushing headlock.   
  
With one arm twisted uselessly towards the sky and his neck being bent at a painful angle, Jarod tried to break free but found that Gohan's grip could not be broken by all the strength Jarod had to call on. With a mighty push of his Ki, Jarod slammed himself and Gohan backwards intending to knock Gohan off his back. But this did not work as Gohan calmly put his feet out and caught them before they slammed into the ground.   
  
With a growl of frustration, Jarod put his feet down and pushed off, moving forward as fast as he could aiming for more of the demolished buildings nearby. He dove headfirst into the nearest one and quickly starting flying a wild, random pattern as he smashed through building after building trying to shake Gohan off. After several minutes finally turned to a solid block of stone nearby and rammed it with full speed. This time however, instead of blasting his way through it, he let his body be crushed to a stop by the mass of the object. Gohan was caught by surprise by this and his grip was broken as he flew forward several more yards and then he hit the ground and came to a rolling stop.   
  
Gohan quickly sat up and shook his head. Then he easily bounced to his feet and turned toward Jarod. Jarod was still laying on the ground trying to shake the dazed feeling he had when he heard Gohan's voice. "Wow, that was as fun as a rollercoaster. Can we do it again?"  
  
Jarod looked up to see Gohan standing there with a smile on his face and a child-like sparkle in his eyes. Jarod responded with a wordless scream and threw a powerful Ki ball right into Gohan's face. But the quick little Saiyan leaned to the side and the blast shot past him and off into the distance. Jarod jumped to his feet and started throw Ki blasts at a furious pace at Gohan, but again the young warrior proved to be too quick. Gohan put a little distance between himself and Jarod and began to dodge around.  
  
Gohan laughed and started to put on a little bit of a show, trying to get his body into the most twisted and strange positions as the Ki balls shot past him. He appeared to be making a game out of this and even added a little 'catch' to his actions. Every now and then, he would catch one of the Ki balls and throw it back in Jarod's direction.   
  
Jarod quickly tired of this and flew towards Gohan engaging him once again in hand-to-hand combat. Gohan stayed on the defensive mostly, using his speed to dodge the attacks. He would throw the occasional kick or punch when Jarod let his guard down, but otherwise was conserving his energy. Jarod however, was wearing a scowl of frustration, as he could not seem to make contact with any of his attacks. He pumped more and more energy into speed but found that the young Saiyan was easily keeping up with him.   
  
After a couple more minutes of this, suddenly Jarod completely paused in his attacks and pulled back from Gohan. Breathing deeply he studied the figure before him and then broke into a smile. "Very good young warrior. Your strategy was working for a few minutes there. You actually got me mad enough to try and over-extend my power recharge rate. If we had kept up like that I could have been weakened enough for you to finish me off. Instead, your inexperience will now cost you this fight."  
  
Gohan frowned for a moment. "Okay, so you figured out that I was just trying to make you mad. But I don't see how that means I will loose this fight. Even trying your hardest, you could not hit me. Until you can do that, you can't win."  
  
Lord Jarod smiled. "Ah, you are missing the fact that I have figured out your secret. It seems a shame to destroy your generator, since it seems to be much more efficient than mine, but I supposed I can just beat the plans for it out of you later." With that, Jarod stuck his hands out in front of him and formed a large Ki ball. It was almost 3 feet across and from what Gohan could see it looked like dozens of smaller balls all pressed together and then ringed in blue lightning.  
  
Then without a further word, Jarod spun in a circle and released the ball partway around. Gohan gasped in horror as he saw it was heading right over the nearby city where millions of people lived. Gohan flared his Ki and moved to start after the massive attack thinking to save the people, but Jarod had other plans. He launched a new series of attacks at Gohan forcing him to dodge and protect himself. Gohan was just about to break free of Jarod when we saw the ball fly right over the city and keep going. Surprised he paused for a minute and watched as the attack flew over the large spaceport.  
  
Then with a soft thud that Gohan could hear, the ball split up into all its smaller pieces and dropped to the ground in and around the spaceport. The entire area lit up with massive explosions that shredded all the ships sitting on the ground. The smoke cleared quickly thanks to a strong breeze blowing and soon the carnage was evident. Gohan reached out with his senses and only picked up a few weak life signs, some of which faded even while he was scanning.  
  
Jarod has also been studying the spaceport. Now with another smile on his face, he turned back to Gohan. But he did not get the reaction he expected. Gohan was looking at the spaceport with a hard expression and turned towards Jarod. Jarod's smile faded when he saw Gohan was still there. "What? I destroyed your ship. Your power generator is gone, you should be begging me for your life about now. How are you keeping your power up?"  
  
Gohan focused his cold stare on Jarod. "You killed all those people because you thought I got my power from a space ship?"  
  
"I achieved my goal, your ship is gone and it won't be providing you a recharge any more. The people were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. You may be able to maintain the power you have already, but it won't last long. Might as well save yourself the pain and give up now."  
  
Gohan just shook his head, "You really think I got my energy from that ship? I guess that shows you are not as smart as you think you are. Let me show you what I can really do." And then Gohan let out a yell as he began to power up once again. An aura of yellow flame burst into existence and began to swirl around the Saiyan.   
  
Jarod fell back a few feet as in surprise as Gohan's power level started to increase. His mouth hung open as he watched the flicker of lightning surround Gohan. Then a massive burst of energy blasted through the air that signaled Gohan's transformation to the second level of Super-Saiyan. Gohan stood in the air for another moment letting Jarod study him then he sank into a ready position and met Jarod's stare.   
  
Gohan waved one hand at Jarod, indicating that he was ready to begin again. 


	19. Notes from the author

Hey Folks.  
  
Sorry about the long delay here but things have just been too crazy. Between a complete hard drive failure where I lost all my previous work, over a week long power outage thanks to Hurricane Isabel, moving, and planning for my wedding; I have not been able to do much of anything else lately.   
  
Once I get back from my upcoming vacation, I should be able to make some writing progress again. At this time, I hope to put a new chapter up around the beginning of November.   
  
Please hang in there a little while longer, I have not given up. 


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